THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


trvrft 


TOM   JOHNSON 


BY 


ROBERT  L.  ROGERS 


F.     TENNYSON    NEELY 

NEW  YORK  LONDON 


Copyright,  1903, 

by 
ROBERT  L.  ROGERS, 

in  the 
United  States 

and 
Great  Britain. 

Entered  at  Stationers'  Hal), 
London. 


All  Rights  Reserved. 


Tt  m  Johnson. 


3535" 


TO  MY  FRIEND 

HENRY   M.   ARMISTEAD, 

OF   THE    LITTLE   ROCK   BAR, 

THIS  LITTLE  BOOK  IS  AFFECTIONATELY 
DEDICATED. 


TO  THE  PUBLIC. 

w          TOM  JOHNSON  is  the  name  of  one  of  the  charac- 
£J      ters  of  this  story — not  the  only  one,  and  to  you, 
>:      dear  reader,  he  may  not  be  the  ideal  one.     Never 
theless,  he  is  presented  for  your  consideration. 

There  are  both  good  and  bad  in  this  world,  and 
Tom  is  one  out  of  the  common  herd  of  bipeds 
5?     that  inhabit  it. 

w        When  a  man  does  right  he  does  his  duty ;  when 
§    he  does  wrong — do  not  always  condemn  him. 

Tom  Johnson  comes  to  you  with  the  charac- 
^  teristics  and  idiosyncrasies  of  humanity;  and 
^  Katie  Adams — well,  but  she  is  the  woman  in  the 
o  case. 

If  Tom  agrees  with  you,  endorse  him;    if  he 
differs  from  you — tolerate  him.     For  which  you 
<     will  have  the  heartfelt  thanks  of 

THE  AUTHOR. 
VAN  BUREN,  ARK.,  Oct.  25,  1902. 


45259O 


TOM  JOHNSON. 


CHAPTER  I. 

"No,  Tom,  you  are  wrong,  there.  As  a  gen 
eral  thing  a  man  can  do  very  well  where  he 
has  been  reared,  and  known  from  infancy,  but 
there  are  a  great  many  exceptions  to  this  rule. 
When  one  settles  down  at  home  there  are  too 
many  people  that  continue  to  'ook  upon  him  as 
a  boy,  and  will  never  consider  him  a  man  until 
he  has  passed  the  meridian  of  life." 

Thus  spoke  Ralph  Sterling  to  his  travelling 
companion. 

The  two  young  men  were  just  returning  from 
the  University  of  Virginia,  with  their  law  diplo 
mas  in  their  pockets,  and  ever  ready  and  eager 
to  board  the  great  ship  that  sails  the  sea  of  life. 

There  was  a  great  contrast  in  these  young 


2  Tom  Johnson. 

men;  in  their  looks,  size — yes,  in  their  very 
nature — but  they  were  fast  friends.  They  had 
just  graduated  in  the  same  class,  and  had  been 
inseparable  during  their  college  life. 

Thomas  Johnson  had,  in  ar  wer  to  his  friend's 
question,  stated  his  intention  of  casting  his  lot 
at  home — of  locating  in  his  native  county-seat 
town  in  Arkansas,  while  Ralph  was  in? ''sting  on 
his  going  to  Texas  with  him. 

There  was  nothing  mc~?  than  mortal  in  these 
young  men;  nothing  to  attract  the  public  atten 
tion;  they  possessed  the  average  self-importance 
among  young  men  of  their  age  and  station  in  life, 
although  they  were  at  the  same  time  possessed  of 
good,  ordinary  sense,  and  were  hardly  so  ego 
tistical  as  to  presume  that  the  revolving  of  the 
globe  depended  wholly  upon  how  and  when  they 
should  dictate  that  the  axis  should  be  oiled. 

Tom  Johnson  was  not  what  the  young  girl 
graduate  would  call  an  Apollo,  nor  yet  a  Romeo, 
but  was  simply  an  ordinary  looking  young  man, 
and  if  he  was  in  love  with  anything,  it  was  the 
profession  for  which  he  had  worked  so  hard 
to  prepare  himself.  You  would  not  have  called 


Tom  Johnson.  3 

him  awkward  nor  gawky,  yet  there  lingered 
about  him  something  that  reminded  you  of  the 
rural  breeding  that  social  intercourse  with  city- 
bred  men  and  women  seldom  erases.  Six  feet 
tall  and  as  straight  as  an  arrow ;  hair  that  would 
have  been  called  black  by  some  and  brown  by 
others;  blue  eyes  that  looked  sleepy  or  dreamy 
until  their  owner  was  aroused,  and  then  they 
flashed  as  if  they  were  directly  connected  with 
an  electric  current. 

The  father  of  young  Johnson  belonged  to  that 
class  that  had  been  well-to-do  planters  "before 
the  war" — there  being  no  such  thing  as  a  "well- 
to-do  farmer,"  in  the  South  in  those  days — and 
had  owned  in  his  time,  a  large  well  equipped 
farm  or  plantat'^«.  with  plenty  of  negroes  to 
cultivate  it.  The  elder  Johnson  had  cast  his  lot 
with  his  beloved  Southland  in  that  terrible  strug 
gle  from  1861  to  1865,  and  when  the  end  came, 
his  negroes  gone,  his  property  destroyed  and  con 
fiscated,  devastation  staring  him  in  the  face,  he 
did  not  rise  "Phcenix  like,"  regain  and  rebuild 
his  losses,  but  only  survived  a  short  time,  pass 
ing  away  while  the  carpet-bag  regime  were  in 


4  Tom  Johnson. 

power.  Responding  to  the  first  call  for  South 
ern  troops  in  1861,  he  marched  off  at  the  head 
of  a  company,  leaving  Tom,  an  infant,  in  his 
mother's  arms,  and  the  mother  living  but  a  short 
time,  left  Tom  to  the  tender  mercies  of  an  old 
"black  mammy,"  who  had  cared  for  him  with 
that  kind,  affectionate  care,  that  have,  or  should 
have,  immortalized  them,  and  caused  to  be  erect 
ed  to  their  memory  a  monument,  with  a  rever 
ence  to  be  handed  down  to  generations.  There 
is  no  haven  of  rest — no  reward  too  good  for 
the  old  "black  mammy"  of  tlie  South. 

His  father's  death  left  Tom  an  orphan,  and 
almost  an  outcast,  at  the  age  of  ten.  He  was, 
figuratively  speaking,  "kicked  rv  "it"  for  some 
time,  making  his  own  way,  and,  through  his  own 
efforts,  had  acquired  a  very  good,  common- 
school  education.  At  twenty-one  he  found  him 
self  alone  in  the  world  without  money  or  in 
fluence,  but  a  very  ardent  ambition  to  make  a 
lawyer.  He  had  one  friend — an  old-time  friend 
of  his  father,  Judge  Cype,  who  finally  arranged 
for  him  to  attend  the  great  university,  in  the 
mother  of  states,  by  partially  working  his  way 


Tom  Johnson.  5 

through,  first  in  the  capacity  of  janitor,  then 
college  librarian,  and  finally  as  private  secretary 
to  the  president  of  the  institution. 

While  at  the  university  Tom  had  met  Ralph 
Sterling,  and  the  acquaintance  had  ripened  with 
the  years  into  a  friendship  as  strong  as  that  of 
David  and  Jonathan. 

Ralph  Sterling  was  the  son  of  a  rich  banker 
and  ranch  owner,  who  lived  in  one  of  those 
grand  old  South  Texas  towns.  Colonel  Ster 
ling,  Ralph's  father,  had  two  sons.  Ralph  being 
the  younger  and  the  petted  had  been,  as  they 
say,  "reared  in  the  lap  of  luxury."  He  was  a 
"dapper  little  fellow,"  almost  feminine  in  his  size 
and  appearance,  but  he  was  every  inch  a  man — a 
man  as  the  word  implies.  With  his  dark, 
swarthy  complexion  and  his  keen,  black  eyes — 
as  they  gazed  with  a  look  of  adoration  into 
those  of  his  friend's  at  his  side,  it  was  easy  to 
discern  that  he  worshipped  Tom  Johnson. 

Ralph  had  proposed  to  Tom  to  go  with  him 
to  some  new  Texas  town  and  locate.  He  had 
plenty  of  money  to  set  them  up — start  them  with 
an  office,  library,  etc.,  and  Tom  could  repay  his 


6  Tom  Johnson. 

part  when  the  firm  had  made  sufficient  money  to 
enable  him  to  do  so  without  hampering  it. 

The  offer  was  indeed  tempting  to  Tom,  but  he 
was  proud,  high-minded,  and  would  have 
scorned  any  proposition  that  sounded  as  if  there 
was  a  semblance  of  charity  in  it,  and,  while  he 
had  but  few  ties  at  home,  it  was  his  sole  ambition 
to  go  back  there  and  "make  his  mark,"  and  show 
those  that  had  scorned  him  what  he  could  do — 
to  humiliate  the  few  proud  relatives,  of  whom  he 
had  never  asked  a.  favor.  This  ambition  he  had 
nursed  until  it  had  ceased  to  be  an  ambition,  but 
— revenge  was  the  proper  name  now.  He  felt 
tliat  he  could  accomplish  this,  and  why  not? 
He  had  friends  there,  was  considered  a  bright 
young  man,  and  old  Judge  Cype  had  often  writ 
ten  while  he  was  in  college,  telling  him  in  very 
flattering  terms  what  a  bright  future  awaited 
him  in  his  native  town,  if  he  would  but  come  and 
settle  down  to  hard  work. 

But  Ralph  pleaded;  he  painted  bright  and 
glowing  pictures;  he  built  air-castles  of  large 
proportion;  he  showed  Tom  what  two  bright 
young  lawyers  of  their  extraordinary  ability 


Tom  Johnson.  7 

could  do  in  one  of  the  new  and  fast  growing 
Western  towns;  he  had  them  located  in  a  small 
town  that  would  soon  become  a  metropolis,  and 
the  firm  of  Johnson  &  Sterling  rich,  with  a  lucra 
tive  law  practice,  and  so  popular  that  their 
friends  were  begging  them  to  accept  a  seat  on 
the  supreme  bench,  or  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  in  a  very,  very  short  time,  a  few  years 
at  least. 

Oh,  what  joy  it  is  to  shut  one's  eyes  and  gaze 
into  the  future;  that  is  while  the  aerial  architect 
of  the  mind  constructs  air-castles  of  such  mag 
nificent  splendor.  Your  ambition  drives  the  peg, 
and  with  a  wide,  reckless  aim  you  go  straight  to 
it.  You  overcome  every  obstacle;  you  push 
them  aside  lightly  and  go  on;  you  only  see  the 
bright  beacon  light  of  success,  and  grasp  St 
eagerly — there  is  no  ill-wind  to  whiff  it  out. 
While  it  may  be  far  up  the  ladder  of  fame  or 
success,  yet  you  reach  it;  it  is  yours;  you  grasp 
it,  hold  it  for  a  minute,  cast  it  aside,  and — go  on 
dreaming.  Perhaps  on  a  different  route,  or  per 
haps  you  go  back  and  start  anew,  and  dream  the 
same  old  dream  over  again.  He  who  finds  no 


&  Tom  Johnson. 

pleasure — no    satisfaction    in    the    future,    can 

boast  of  but  little  in  the  past.     But  then 

When  Tom  and  Ralph  arrived  at  the  place 
for  them  to  take  different  routes  for  their  respec 
tive  homes,  Ralph  walked  to  the  station  window 
and  purchased  two  tickets  for  Burnet,  Texas. 


Tom  Johnson.  9 


CHAPTER  II. 

ONE  of  the  most  popular  as  well  as  prominent 
men  in  Burnet  was  Colonel  James  P.  Sterling. 
He  came  to  the  Lone  Star  state  when  a  mere 
boy,  and  had  followed  her  leader,  General  Sam 
Houston,  through  the  struggle  for  independence, 
and  during  the  infancy  of  the  then  young  repub 
lic  had  settled  at  Burnet,  before  there  was  a 
town  by  that  name  and  had  lived  there  since. 
He  lived  in  a  large  house,  built  after  the  colo 
nial  style,  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town,  with  his 
elder  son,  John,  when  Ralph  was  absent.  John 
was  the  cashier  of  the  bank  of  which  his  father 
was  president,  and  one  of  the  principal  owners. 
John  did  not  look  like  his  younger  brother,  nor 
was  he,  as  to  that.  He  was  several  years  older 
than  Ralph,  and  had  been  engaged  in  business 
since  his  boyhood.  While  yet  under  thirty,  he 
looked  much  older,  being  small  in  stature,  stoop- 


10  Tom  Johnson. 

shouldered  and  thin  chested.  He  showed  to  be 
a  man  whose  duties  had  kept  him  closely  con 
fined,  and  impressed  you  at  once  as  a  man  whose 
mind  was  bent  on  the  saving  of  the  "mighty  dol 
lar." 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  young  men  in 
Burnet  Ralph  partially  made  known  their  plans 
to  his  father,  who  agreed  with  him  in  part,  but 
was  opposed  to  his  going  further  West,  assuring 
him  that  Burnet  was  a  good  enough  place  for  him 
to  locate  for  the  purpose  of  practicing  his  pro 
fession. 

The  young  men  finally  gave  in,  and  a  nice 
suit  of  rooms  over  the  bank  were  selected  for 
their  office,  and  then  they  began  the  struggle — 
not  altogether  for  bread,  but  for  business,  at 
least,  and  a  "shingle"  of  bright  gold  letters  was 
read  by  the  public  as  it  hung  at  the  foot  of  the 
stairs : 

JOHNSON  &  STERLING, 
Attorneys-at-Law. 

It  was  soon  generally  known  that  Ralph  had 
come  home,  bringing  with  him  a  college  chum 


Tom  Johnson.  11 

for  a  partner.  Everybody  liked  Ralph,  and 
prophesied  success  for  him. 

Their  office  had  been  opened  but  a  few  days 
when  court  convened,  and  the  young  lawyers 
made  their  first  appearance  at  the  bar.  Judge 
Evans,  who  presided  on  the  bench,  was  a  per 
sonal  friend  of  Colonel  Sterling  and  was  very 
fond  of  Ralph,  hence  he  showed  the  young  men 
every  courtesy  possible. 

When  court  had  been  in  session  a  few  days,  a 
case  was  called  in  which  the  defendant  was  to  be 
tried  for  his  life — on  a  charge  of  murder.  He 
was  without  counsel  or  money,  and  Tom  and 
Ralph  were  appointed  to  represent  him.  He 
was  just  a  common  tramp — the  strongest  testi 
mony  against  him.  They  talked  the  case  over 
with  their  first  client,  and  as  they  were  returning 
from  the  jail,  Tom  told  Ralph  that  their  client 
was  an  innocent  man. 

The  evidence,  if  there  was  really  any  evidence 
against  him,  was  purely  circumstantial.  A  man 
had  been  found  dead  in  the  road — almost  within 
the  limits  of  the  town,  where  he  had  been  mur 
dered  no  doubt  for  his  money,  and  the  tramp 


12  Tom  Johnson. 

being  found  asleep  near  the  place  of  the  killing, 
was  without  further  ceremony  arrested  charged 
with  the  murder — charged  with  the  grave  offense 
of  taking  a  human  life  while  attempting  to  rob 
him  of  his  hard  earned  dollars.  There  had  been 
some  very  strong  talk  of  lynching — in  fact,  sev 
eral  demonstrations  on  the  part  of  the  people — 
and  it  was  all  that  the  sheriff  and  his  able  force 
of  deputies  could  do  to  avert  such  action  on  the 
part  of  the  people — not  the  mob.  Tom  and 
Ralph  studied  their  case  as  best  they  could,  and 
when  it  was  called  for  trial,  found  them  ready, 
strange  as  it  may  seem,  to  proceed — with  a  trial 
that  would  settle  the  fate  of  their  client,  and 
they,  too,  without  testimony,  but  wholly  relying 
upon  the  evidence  of  the  prosecution. 

The  court  room  was  crowded  to  its  utmost 
capacity,  as  everybody  had  heard  of  the  crime, 
and  that  the  young  lawyers  were  to  defend  the 
murderer  (?).  The  older  members  of  the  bar 
came  early,  not  that  they  were  particularly  inter 
ested  in  the  case,  that  is,  no  particular  phase  of 
the  case,  not  even  the  result  of  the  trial — for  the 
fate  of  the  prisoner,  whether  he  was  hung  or 


Tom  Johnson.  13 

aquitted,  mattered  little  to  them — but  they 
came  for  the  sole  purpose  of  seeing  and  hearing 
the  attorney  for  the  state  "devour"  the  youths 
who  were  to  defend  the  prisoner  at  bar.  Strange 
that  there  are  some  good  lawyers,  members  of 
that  noble  and  honorable  profession,  that  will 
on  occasions  of  this  kind  go  to  a  court  room  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  being  amused,  have  fun,  at 
the  expense,  humiliation  and  degradation  of  a 
fellow-man,  when  a  human  life  is  at  stake. 

The  evidence  was  all  in,  and  after  the  instruc 
tions  of  the  court,  the  prosecutor  opened  with  a 
speech,  "devouring,"  as  it  were,  the  young  law 
yers,  endeavoring  to  ridicule  them  out  of  court 
with  bits  of  sarcasm  and  philippics  thrust  in  ad 
vance,  to  "kind  of  bring  them  out."  He  did  not 
even  confine  himself  to  the  record,  knowing  that 
he  could  "fudge"  on  the  inexperienced  and  take 
positions  that  were  unfair,  not  to  say  unscrupu 
lous. 

Ralph  followed  with  a  few  rambling,  remarks, 
as  well  as  the  average  beginner,  but  it  was  evi 
dently  very  plain  that  he  was  no  orator,  and  in 
fact  would  never  become  a  very  strong  advocate 


14  Tom  Johnson. 

As  Tom  arose  awkwardly  to  address  the  jury, 
every  eye  was  on  him.  He  looked  not  only  em 
barrassed,  but  really  pitiable,  and  at  that  mo 
ment  there  was  a  great  deal  more  sympathy  for 
him,  in  that  court  room  than  there  was  for  the 
prisoner.  He  stammered,  his  throat  was  parched 
and  his  tongue  refused  to  move  at  his  will;  he 
appeared  as  if  he  would  be  compelled  to  take  his 
seat,  but  finally  the  embarrassment  began  to 
wear  off,  and  his  feverish  brain  began  to  act,  and 
his  tongue  no  longer  stuck  to  the  roof  of  his 
mouth.  As  he  warmed  up  to  his  subject  the  eyes 
of  the  bench,  bar  and  audience  began  to  open. 
He  was  but  a  boy,  but  looked  at  times  to  be  a 
man  of  mature,  years.  At  first  he  looked  hag 
gard  and  sorrowful,  and  then  he  brightened  up, 
as  the  smile  of  confidence  passed  over  his  face. 
He  was  an  orator,  not  poetical,  but  powerful, 
logical  and  convincing.  Every  utterance  came 
from  the  heart,  and  the  jury  saw  and  believed — 
everything  he  said.  Until  this  day  they 
say  that  no  man  has  ever  made  another  such 
speech  in  the  old  Burnet  court  house.  His 


Tom  Johnson.  15 

client  was  acquitted  and  the  name  of  Tom  John 
son  became  known  in  all  parts  of  the  country, 
and  business  began  at  once  to  come  to  the  young 
firm. 


16  Tom  Johnson. 


CHAPTER  III. 

AMONG  the  leading  and  wealthy  citizens  of 
Burnet  was  the  Hon.  Louis  Thomas.  Mr. 
Thomas  was  a  Federal  soldier,  and  after  the 
surrender  located  at  Burnet,  and  had  accumu 
lated  quite  a  fortune  in  the  real  estate  and  cattle 
business.  After  1'ving  a  bachelor  for  some  time 
he  had  married  the  widow  of  Major  Adams,  who 
died  shortly  after  Mr.  Thomas  came  to  Burnet, 
leaving  his  wife  and  little  daughter,  Katie,  the 
fortune  he  had  amassed  by  hard  work  in  the 
early  Texas  days. 

Katie  Adams  had  been  reared  by  her  mother, 
who  had  devoted  every  hour  of  her  existence  to 
her  daughter's  welfare,  and  the  daughter,  now 
eighteen,  had  just  returned  from  one  of  the 
Eastern  academies,  where  she  had  spent  two 
years. 

While  she  had  been  a  spoiled  child,  yet  she 


Tom  Johnson.  17 

was  a  sensible,  well-bred,  as  well  as  a  beautiful 
girl,  and  was  not  one  of  your  vain,  scornful  crea 
tures  who  think  the  only  object  in  life  is  to  flirt 
^nd  wear  pretty  costumes.  She  was  neither  a 
blonde  nor  brunette,  being  of  that  medium  that 
makes  one  think  to  tell  the  color  of  her  hair,  yet 
you  see  it  in  a  hundred  women  every  day. 

Mr.  Thomas  and  Colonel  Sterling  were  great 
friends,  and  had  been  associated  in  business  mat 
ters  for  many  years,  and — well,  yes,  it  was  gen 
erally  understood  by  both  families  that  John 
Sterling  and  Katie  were  to  marry,  some  day. 

Katie  had  returned  home  and  the  gossipers 
were  all  talking  about  her.  Some  said  that  the 
two  years  at  school  had  brought  wonderful 
changes,  while  others  contended  that  she  was  the 
same  beautiful,  bewitching  little  "torn-boy"  as 
of  yore,  when  she  could  be  seen  dashing  through 
the  streets  of  Burnet  on  her  mustang  pony  at  a 
terrific  rate  of  speed — a  speed,  in  fact,  forbidden 
by  the  "city  dads,"  and  defined  by  the  town 
ordinance  as  "fast  riding,"  if  done  by  some 
farmer  or  cowboy. 

But  Katie  Adams  had  a  kind  word  for  every- 


18  Tom  Johnson. 

one,  no  matter  how  poor  or  lowly.  With  wealth 
at  her  disposal  she  had  been  allowed  to  satisfy 
every  childish  whim,  and  yet  the  gossips  said 
that  she  had  no  choice  as  to  who  should  one  day 
be  her  husband,  but  that  she  was  brought  up  to 
understand  that  she  was  to  marry  John  Sterling. 
Did  she  love  him?  Did  she  even  like  him — how 
can  one  tell?  She  had  been  away  from  home 
since  she  was  fifteen,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
she  had  not  seriously  considered  matrimony  at 
that  age. 

But  the  gossips  talked,  nor  was  the  gossiping 
less  when  the  news  came  out  that  the  Thomases 
would  give  a  party  in  Katie's  honor  a  few  days 
after  her  return  home. 

We  know  but  little  about  society,  but  perhaps 
this  was  her  debut,  and  as  the  society  in 
small  Texas  towns  was  somewhat  cosmopolitan, 
the  "elite"  were  not  all  of  the  same  calibre  as 
New  York's  four  hundred.  The  distinction  in 
Burnet  was  only  drawn  between  those  of  honest 
character,  and  those  who  did  not  possess  that 
quality.  The  banker  and  the  blacksmith,  the 
lawyer  and  the  drayman,  all  met  on  equality. 


Tom  Johnson.  19 

A  wag  once  said,  in  speaking  of  West  Texas 
society,  that  it  was  divided  into  three  classes,  to 
wit: 

The  first  class  were  those  who  hired  their  wash 
ing  done.  The  second  class  were  those  who  did 
their  own  washing,  and  the  third  class  were  those 
who  didn't  have  any  washing  done  at  all. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  everybody  of  respecta 
bility  was  invited  to  the  Thomas  mansion,  and 
great  preparations  were  being  made  for  a  nice 
time.  Mr.  Thomas  had  hands  at  work  on  his 
beautiful  lawn  and  the  trees  prepared  to  be  liter 
ally  covered  with  transparent  colors  of  Japanese 
lanterns. 

******          * 

Monday  morning  preceding  the  Wednesday 
night  of  Mr.  Thomas'  party,  Tom  reached  his 
office  very  early.  He  was  seated  at  his  desk  writ 
ing  when  Frank,  the  old  darkey,  came  in  to 
clean  up. 

"Good  mawnin',  Mr.  Tom,"  said  Frank. 
"You  might  yerly  dis  mawnin'.  My!  W'ite 
man,  how  you  do  study.  Yes,  suh,  you  de  hawd- 
est  wukkin'  man  I  ever  see.  Heah  Jedge 


20  Tom  Johnson. 

Evans  say  las'  Sadday  dat  you  gwine  t'  make  yo* 
mawk.  Mr.  Thomas  say  you  don'  go  to  chuch 
much,  but  des  stay  heah  all  day  Sunday  a-readin' 
an'  a-wukkin'.  He  'low  dat  wa'n't  right;  but 
Jedge  Evans  say  dat  he  know  men  w'at  go  to 
chuch  and  pray  wid  er  face  er  foot  long  on 
Sunday,  and  den  on  Monday  mawnin'  git  up  wid 
a  scheme  dey  had  hatched  out  on  Sunday,  fer  to 
beat  dar  neighbo'  in  a  hoss  swap,  he  did.  But, 
law,  Mr.  Tom,  w'at  a  time  dey  gwine  t'  hab  up 
to  Mr.  Thomas'.  My  wife  dun  been  wukkin' 
up  dar  fer  a  week.  Dey  gwine  t'  be  a  monstus 
time,  I  tell  you.  Termor'  is  mah  birthday,  an* 
I  tol'  Sarah  dis  mawnin'  I  'spec'  you  gwine  give 
me  er  present;  'co'se  I  didn'  know,  an'  she  say, 
'Frank,  dat's  a  monstus  fine  man,  Mr.  Tom  is,' 
'deed  she  did,  an' " 

"Here,  Frank,  is  a  dollar — your  present,"  said 
Tom,  "and  now  go  over  to  the  clerk's  office  and 
bring  me  some  papers/' 

"Yes,  suh,  yes,  suh,  I  will  dat,  boss.  My,  I'm 
gwine  t'  keep  dis  heah  dollah  long's  I  live  in 
'membrance  o'  you.  Yes,  suh " 


Tom  Johnson.  21 

"Frank,"  said  Tom,  "to-morrow  is  your  birth 
day — how  old  are  you?" 

"Law,  boss,  I  gess  Fs  'bout  sixty  yeahs  old. 
Yes  suh." 

"Are  you  just  sixty?" 

"  'Deed,  I  don'  know,  boss,  but  I  'spec'  I  is." 

"Then,  Frank,  how  do  you  know  it  is  your 
birthday?" 

"  'Cause,  boss,  Mr.  Bennett  say  I  was  bawn  on 
de  fus'  of  July." 

"But  to-morrow  is  only  the  twenty-sixth  of 
June." 

"Is  dat  so?  Well,  well,  dat  am  strange,  sho', 
but  den,  well — boss,  I  mus'  fetch  dem  papers. 
I'll  be  back  in  a  jiffy,"  and  with  that  the  old 
negro  darted  out  of  the  door. 

Tom  was  leaning  back  in  his  chair,  laughing 
at  old  Frank's  plan  to  get  a  dollar,  when  Ralph 
walked  in. 

"Good  morning,  Tom,"  said  Ralph,  "you  did 
not  sleep  in  the  office  last  night,  did  you?  You 
are  here  so  early  in  the  morning  and  late  at 
night  that  I  hardly  think  you  sleep  at  all. 

"By  the  way,  Tom,  you  have  been  here  a  year 


22  Tom  Johnson. 

now,  and  have  kept  yourself  as  secluded  as  a 
monk,  aside  from  business.  Why  don't  you  go 
out  some?  Of  course  you  will  go  to  Thomas' 
Wednesday  evening?" 

"No,  I  think  not,"  said  Tom.  "Some  day  I 
may  be  able  to  devote  a  portion  of  my  time  to 
pleasure  and  amusement,  but  now,  to  business — 
for  a  time,  at  least." 

The  reader  must  not  for  a  moment  think  that 
Tom  Johnson  was  different  from  other  young 
men.  He  was  sociable,  loved  the  society  of  his 
fellow-man— -of  the  ladies,  too,  perhaps — but  he 
wanted  to  be  independent.  His  life  had  been  one 
of  hardships,  a  struggle  for  bread,  and  his  desire 
was  to  get  a  place  in  the  world  that  would  place 
him  beyond  want,  where  he  could  face  the  world 
as  an  independent  man.  Had  he  made  any  prog 
ress  so  far?  Yea,  beyond  his  most  sanguine  ex 
pectations. 

Ralph  pleaded  and  Tom  yielded,  and  it  was  fin 
ally  agreed  that  he  would  accompany  Ralph  to 
the  party  Wednesday  night. 

The  people — the  "elite"  of  Burnet — were  on 
hand.  Mr.  Thomas,  the  host,  and  his  amiable 


Tom  Johnson.  23 

wife  were  proud  of  the  occasion.  Mrs.  Thomas 
proud  of  her  daughter ;  and  her  husband — proud 
of  the  show  he  was  making. 

Tom,  of  course,  was  there.  The  young  giant 
in  the  court  room,  in  the  forum,  before  juries, 
was  now  a  bashful  youth,  when  in  company  with 
ladies.  The  ablest  opponents  could  not  scare 
him  in  a  trial,  but  a  pair  of  female  eyes  could 
run  him  from  the  field. 

The  large  folding  doors  between  the  dining- 
room  and  parlor  were  thrown  aside,  the  floor 
waxed,  the  local  string  band  was  on  hand,  and 
the  happy  young  couples,  comprising  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  merchants,  bankers,  ranch 
men  and  mechanics,  were  dancing.  Out  in  the 
lawn  were  croquet  grounds,  and  tables  of  delica 
cies  under  the  trees.  Men  in  groups  talked  poli 
tics,  religion,  etc.,  and  the  women  gossiped.  And 
Tom  was  one  of  the  subjects  for  the  gossipers, 
for  his  recent  victories  had  made  him  known. 

As  Katie  was  leaning  on  the  arm  of  John 
Sterling  out  in  the  lawn  in  one  of  their  prom 
enades,  they  met  Ralph,  who  inquired  of  them  if 
they  had  seen  Tom. 


24  Tom  Johnson. 

"You  mean  your  partner,  Mr.  Johnson?" 
asked  Katie.  "No,  and  it  was  mean  of  you  not 
to  present  him  when  you  first  came  in.  Now, 
Ralph,  if  you  do  not  hunt  him  up  at  once  you 
are  in  for  a  good  scolding." 

When  Ralph  had  gone,  she  turned  to  John  and 
asked : 

"What  about  this  Mr.  Johnson?  I  hear  his 
name  everywhere.  He  is  a  newcomer  here,  and 
yet  his  friends  and  admirers  are  legion.  People 
speak  of  him  as  if  he  were  a  young  Demosthenes." 

"Humph!"  said  John,  "he  is  a  bookworm;  a 
fellow  that  is  pretty  smart,  but  thinks  that  he  is 
a  great  deal  smarter  than  he  really  is.  I  don't 
think  much  of  him,  but  Ralph  and  father  think 
him  the  greatest  man  in  the  state,  to  hear  them 
talk.  There  is  but  little  to  say  about  him ;  he  is 
as  poor  as  Job's  proverbial  turkey,  talks  but  lit 
tle  of  himself,  and,  in  my  opinion,  has  a  history 
that  he  would  not  care  to  have  made  public  in 
Burner." 

Here  John  said  too  much.  To  raise  a  woman's 
curiosity,  say  something  bad  or  mysterious  about 
a  man,  and  her  interest  begins.  Sometimes  they 


Tom  Johnson.  25 

begin  to  pity,  and  the  old  saw  says  that  pity  is 
akin  to — a  distant  relative,  at  least,  to — love. 

Ralph  soon  found  Tom,  and  ran  upon  John 
and  Katie  seated  in  the  library,  across  the  hall 
from  the  newly  converted  ballroom.  Tom  was 
presented,  and  a  conversation  began ;  the  collo 
quy,  however,  would  not  be  very  interesting. 
At  the  start  everybody  did  more  talking  than 
Tom,  for,  as  Katie  would  ask  questions,  he 
would  generally  answer  in  monosyllables.  John 
took  good  care  not  to  leave,  but  Ralph  was  soon 
out,  in  the  ballroom,  or  promenading  the  lawn 
with  some  local  belle  of  the  town. 

Finally  a  young  damsel  of  some  thirty  or  more 
summers  appeared  at  the  door,  and  cried : 

"Law,  Mr.  John,  I've  been  looking  for  you 
everywhere — this  is  our  waltz." 

And  John,  looking  more  displeased  than  other 
wise,  took  her  arm  and  left  for  the  ballroom. 
After  the  departure  of  John  and  the  village 
"Dulcinea"  Katie  began  the  conversation : 

"Do  you  dance,  Mr.  Johnson?" 

"No,  I  seldom  do — that  is,  I  believe — I  never 
did." 


26  Tom  Johnson. 

At  this  answer  Katie  broke  into  a  hearty  laugh. 

"Pardon  me,  Mr.  Johnson,"  she  said,  "but  you 
talk  so  droll.  Now,  tell  me,"  she  continued, 
"how  on  earth  do  you  pass  the  time  away  here? 
I  am  told  that  you  seldom  go  anywhere.  But  I 
also  hear  you  are  a  bookworm.  Are  you  so 
fond  of  books  that  you  can  find  more  solace — 
enjoyment — with  them  than  with  social  inter 
course  with  your  fellow-man?" 

"No,"  laughed  Tom,  "that  is  untrue.  I  had 
almost  as  soon  be  called  an  idiot,  Miss  Adams, 
as  a  bookworm.  A  man  who  loves  books,  but 
who  studies  human  nature  with  them,  is  no  book 
worm.  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  ever  known  a 
bookworm,  but,  as  I  understand  the  term,  gen 
erally  applied,  it  is  one  who  has  become  a  fiend 
to  the  habit  of  reading,  and  makes  no  application 
of  his  reading,  but  isolates  himself  from  the  so 
ciety  of  his  fellow-man  to  live,  not  with  the  au 
thors,  but  to  and  with  himself,  and  abuses  the 
life  God  has  given  him  in  dreaming  it  away  for 
self,  instead  of  using  his  acquired  knowledge 
in  helping  mankind.  No  man  is  a  bookworm 


Tom  Johnson.  27 

that  makes  any  application  of  what  he  reads — a 
bookworm  is  a  literary  miser." 

As  Tom  had  only  spoken  "yes"  and  "no" 
heretofore,  this  burst  of  enthusiasm  almost 
startled  his  companion,  and  she  knew  not  what 
to  say.  When  she  told  him  that  he  had  been 
called  a  bookworm  his  sleepy  eyes  seemed  to 
sparkle  with  animation  and  he  was  aroused  as  if 
an  insult  had  been  thrust  at  him. 

"But,  of  course,"  she  continued,  "you  have  no 
time  or  taste  for  fiction,  but  confine  yourself  to 
your  professional  studies." 

"On  the  contrary,"  said  Tom,  "I  read  fiction, 
and  think  it  is  as  essential  to  the  cultivation  of 
one's  mind  as  the  deepest  logic  and  facts  of  the 
study  of  philosophy  and  history.  I  love  novels, 
and  read  them,  and,  I  will  say,  study  some  of 
them.  Nor  do  I,  strictly  speaking,  confine  my 
self  to  what  many  are  wont  to  call  'old  stand 
ards,'  either,  but  read  what  some  are  pleased  to 
call  the  'modern  yellow-backs/  occasionally." 

"Of  course  good  literature  is  often  dry  and  not 
nearly  so  enticing  as  lighter,  or,  you  might  say, 
even  trashy  fiction,"  she  said.  "But  think  of 


28  Tom  Johnson. 

the  harm  this  modern  romance  does  to  the  youth 
of  the  land." 

"I  do  not  think  that  there  is  really  any  dan 
ger  of  people  with  good  sense  being  hurt  by  the 
reading  of  'Mighty  Dick,  the  Boy  Giant  Killer' 
literature,  for  sensible  people  will  not  read  such 
stuff.  The  average  modern  novel  is  but  a  tele 
scope  with  which  to  view  human  nature.  Some 
magnify  the  vices,  and  some  the  virtues,  and 
some  with  a  side  glance  only  show  up  the  little 
idiosyncrasies  of  the  characters,  but  nearly  as 
frequently  the  authors." 

"Yes,  but  the  classics " 

"Ah,  but  everything  with  a  little  age  to  it  is 
now  a  classic." 

"Well,  but,"  she  continued,  "the  writers  of 
fiction  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  cen 
tury  always  blended  interesting  history  with  true 
romance." 

"Well  said,  but  did  you  not  intend  it  vice 
versa?  And  more  romance  than  history,  too." 

"Yes,  but  you  cannot  gainsay  the  result  of 
such  literature." 

"True;  I  will  admit  that  there  are  some  peo- 


Tom  Johnson.  29 

pie  of  the  present  day  that  know  more  of  his 
tory,  gathered  from  the  so-called  historical  nov 
els,  than  they  ever  learned  in  school,  to  say  noth 
ing  of  its  accuracy,  but  still  it  is,  in  my  opinion, 
the  lightest  work  of  the  author.  His  work  is 
done  in  advance;  his  scenes  are  laid,  and  he  has 
but  to  weave,  as  it  were,  the  little  thread  of  ro 
mance  into  the  very  warp  of  history  already 
woven,  and  there  you  are.  Perhaps  he  draws 
not  nearly  so  much  on  his  own  imagination  as 
Old  Sleuth  would  in  writing  one  of  his  half-dime 
detective  pamphlets." 

"I  do  not  agree  with  you,  Mr.  Johnson.  You 
know  that  Shakespeare  sang  history  and  ro 
mance " 

"Well,  not  quite.  Shakespeare  was  a  philos 
opher  as  well  as  a  poet,  and  used  his  historical 
characters  in  name  only,  but  painted  them  to 
suit  himself." 

"But  are  not  Robin  Hood  and  Ivanhoe  histori 
cal  characters?" 

"Yes,  indeed,  but  principally  made  so  by  nov 
elists.  Scott  has  immortalized  Ivanhoe  until  it 
would  be  cruel  now  to  find  out  that  he  was  a 


30  Tom  Johnson. 

myth.  George  Washington  and  Paul  Jones  are 
historical  characters,  made  so  by  historians  hand 
ing  down  to  posterity  their  deeds  of  valor;  but 
the  modern  novelists  never  try  to  paint  them 
without  their  efforts  turn  out  to  be  caricatures, 
hence  they  generally  let  them  remain  as  they 
find  them  in  the  primary  history  of  the  country." 

"And  then  you  call  them  plagiarists?" 

"No,  hardly  so  bad,"  said  Tom,  "but  thought 
is  frequently  borrowed  and  no  credit  given." 

"Well,  if  they  have  a  tendency  to  elevate  the 
morals  and  instruct  the  mind,  it  is  not  so  bad, 
and,  after  all,  we  overlook  many  little  things  and 
excuse  ourselves  by  saying,  when  we  are  repri 
manded,  that  we  only  did  it  for  pastime." 

"Ah,  but  the  sermonizing  novelist.  A  novel 
with  too  much  moral  is  a  dangerous  thing." 

"Mr.  Johnson,  I  hardly  understand  you.  What 
say  you  of  'Ben  Hur'?" 

"Not  so  much  as  I  would  for  'The  Pilgrim's 
Progress/  and  yet  more  than  I  would  for  'Quo 
Vadis.' " 

"How  you  make  the  comparison  of  these  books 
is  what  I  cannot  understand." 


Tom  Johnson.  31 

"I  do  not  attempt  to,  but  these  are  books  of 
fiction  with  a  moral,  or,  if  I  should  refer  to  the 
latter,  I  should  say — immoral." 

"Oh,  I  don't  know  that  you  should  call  it  that. 
It  portrays  the  weakness  of  man,  and  they  are 
as  fickle  as  ever." 

"In  what  sense  do  you  use  the  word  man,  Miss 
Adams?" 

"As  the  male  member  of  mankind." 

"Oh,  I  understand;  but  do  you  contend  that 
the  weaker  sex  are  the  only  part  of  humanity 
that  are  improving  on  this  line?" 

"Of  course,  when  you  say  weaker  sex,  you 
mean  woman?" 

"Yes." 

"By  way  of  digression,  I  will  only  admit 
woman  to  be  weaker  than  man  in  but  one  respect 
— physically.  No,  not  even  mentally.  Now," 
she  said,  with  a  pout,  "I  regret  to  be  placed  in 
an  attitude  where  I  must  defend  my  own  sex, 
especially  from  the  standpoint  of  an  egotist ;  but 
yes,  woman  has  made  progress  in  many  ways 
where  man  has  stood  unmoved.  Man,  the  big 
gest  egotist  on  earth,  lays  down  a  code  of  morals. 


32  Tom  Johnson. 

not  only  for  himself,  but  for  woman  as  well.  If 
the  woman  violates  this  code  there  is  severe  pun 
ishment  in  store  for  her — ostracism  from  all 
forms  of  society — while  the  morals  prescribed 
for  the  man,  by  himself,  are  not  only  very  lax, 
but  there  is  no  punishment  whatever  prescribed 
for  their  violation." 

"Then  you  blame  man  for  prescribing  this 
code?" 

"No,  not  at  all,  but  for  violating  what  should 
be,  and  are,  his  own  laws,  and  casting  the  burden 
on  woman  to  uphold  him  in  his  own  iniquity,  and 
receive  the  punishment  for  his  own  crimes." 

"Miss  Adams,  you  are  daring." 

"Nay,  only  frank." 

"But  how  about  woman?  Is  she  the  defender 
— ever — of  her  fallen  sister?" 

"No,  of  course  not.  She  should  never  be  the 
defender,  but  man  will  not  allow  her  to  be  the 
rescuer." 

"Then  you  lay  all  the  blame  to  man  ?" 

"All.  He  builds  the  idol  in  public  view,  and 
with  an  iconoclastic  club  of  his  own  design  de 
molishes  it  in  the  dark," 


Tom  Johnson.  33 

"I  admit  that  we  owe  a  great  deal  of  the  re 
ligious  and  moral  sentiment  we  have  to  woman; 
to  her  we  look  for  purity  and  chastity;  from  her 
we  receive  our  best  lessons,  but  man  has  respon 
sibilities  as  well,  and  I  think  the  true  gentleman 
will  pay  the  obligation  he  owes  to  society  by  de 
manding  no  more  from  woman  than  he  demands 
of  himself." 

"Mr.  Johnson,  you  are  growing  humorous. 
Do  you  mean  that  as  a  jest?" 

"No." 

"Then,  if  that  were  true,  we  would  be  in  a 
pitiable  condition,  indeed,  for,  according  to  your 
definition,  there  are  but  very  few  true  gentlemen 
in  the  world." 

Tom  looked  horrified  at  this  expression.  He 
saw  that  this  "chit"  of  a  girl  was  leading  him 
into  deep  water,  but  he  had  forgotten — in  fact, 
he  did  not  know  the  curriculum  of  the  modern 
female  academy,  nor  what  he  termed  the  up-to- 
date  method  of  teaching — that  a  woman  was  now 
allowed  to  express  a  reasonable,  sensible  opinion 
without  being  called  immodest. 

The  girl  continued: 

"Woman  should  not  be  judged  alone  by  the 


34  Tom  Johnson. 

progress  she  makes  in  literature  and  art,  for  in 
that,  even,  she  has  had  to  battle  for  centuries 
with  the  stronger  sex,  who  has  always  tried  to  re 
tard  any  progress  she  might  make." 

"But  woman's  sphere " 

"What  is  it?"  asked  Katie. 

Tom  had  no  opportunity,  had  he  been  in 
clined,  to  answer  this  question,  for  just  then 
some  one  came  in,  and  the  conversation  drifted 
to  local  casualties. 

Thus  they  talked  on  the  topics  of  the  town 
and  the  country  until  Tom's  embarrassment  had 
gone,  and  until  so  much  of  the  evening  had  gone 
that  the  crowd  had  begun  to  disperse,  and  John 
and  Ralph  came  in  to  bid  the  crowd  good-bye. 
Tom  arose  to  take  his  departure,  extending  his 
hand,  giving  the  girl  a  hearty  shake. 

That  night  in  his  room  Tom  lay  awake  trying 
to  look  into  the  future;  he  would  build  a  castle 
high  up  in  the  air,  but  a  pretty  face  and  two 
gray  eyes  would  get  in  his  way.  He  dozed  off 
to  sleep,  and  once  his  own  voice  awoke  him  call 
ing  the  girl's -name  that  he  had  been  with  that 
evening. 


Tom  Johnson.  35 


CHAPTER  IV. 

A  FEW  mornings  after  the  party  Mr.  Thomas 
called  at  the  office  of  Tom  and  Ralph  to  attend 
to  some  business  matters.  After  he  had  at 
tended  to  the  matter,  he  began  to  chat  politics. 
John  Sterling  had  by  this  time  come  in.  Mr. 
Thomas  said  that  he  thought  the  people  of  Texas 
should  turn  over  a  new  leaf  in  political  affairs ; 
that,  for  instance,  the  then  dominant  political 
party,  which  was  to  meet  in  convention  in  Bur- 
net  in  a  few  days  to  nominate  a  county  ticket, 
should  select  good  business  men  for  the  legisla 
ture.  John  agreed  with  him  on  everything  he, 
Thomas,  said. 

"Mr.  Thomas,"  he  said,  "you  ought  to  go  to 
the  legislature  from  this  county.  Men  who  own 
the  wealth  of  the  country  should  help  to  make 
the  laws  of  the  country.  You  are  interested 


36  Tom  Johnson. 

more  in  the  legislation  that  will  be  passed  at  the 
coming  session  than  any  other  fifty  men  in  this 
county.  I  mean  from  a  financial  standpoint." 

"Then  he  should  not  be  a  member  of  that 
body,"  said  Tom. 

"When  a  man  has  made  a  success  of  his  own 
affairs,  it  shows  his  ability  to  manage  the  affairs 
of  the  public,"  said  John.  "What  is  the  matter 
with  government  to-day?  Its  public  men  are 
only  political  financiers,  and  its  greatest  teach 
ers  of  political  economy  live  in  mortgaged 
homes." 

"True,"  Tom  replied,  "but  I  gather  from  the 
drift  of  your  argument  that  each  man  wants  to 
better  the  conditions  that  exist  according  to  the 
necessity  of  the  country,  from  his  point  of  view, 
and  that  observation  gathered  from  his  own  ex 
perience." 

"Why,  yes,  to  some  extent,"  said  John. 

"While  not  admitting  that  all  men,  rich  and 
poor,  are  so  unselfish,  yet  granting  that  it  is  so, 
would  it  not  be  dangerous  for  men  of  wealth 
to  control  the  law-making  branch  of  the  coun 
try?" 


Tom  Johnson.  37 

"Certainly  not,"  said  John.  "Observation 
teaches  them  the  country's  need,  and  their  busi 
ness  experience  would  enable  them  to  place  the 
government  on  a  more  safe,  or  solid,  financial 
basis." 

"Would  that  so-called  financial  basis  be  fa 
vorable  to  capital,  or,  what  might  be  called,  the 
laboring  classes  ?" 

"To  both.  The  induction  of  capital  into  an  un 
developed  country  is  as  much  in  the  interest  of 
one  class  as  another." 

"You  are  right,"  said  Tom,  "if  that  capital 
consists  partly  of  the  bone  and  sinew,  that  bring 
with  them  good  society.  Mr.  Sterling,  I  would 
like  to  hear  you  name  some  needed  legislation  for 
our  State  that  would  be  beneficial  to  all  classes  ?" 

"Well,  I  would  favor  the  exemption  for  a  pe 
riod  of  twenty  years  of  all  manufacturing  indus 
tries — especially  those  that  would  use  our  raw 
material,  such  as  wool,  cotton,  etc." 

"In  this  state  we  have  some  thirty  or  more  un 
settled  counties,  have  we  not?" 

"Yes,  I  believe  so." 

"Then,  why  not  exempt  all  farmers  from  taxa- 


38  Tom  Johnson. 

tion  for  that  period,  that  will  go  there  and 
settle?" 

"Oh,  that  country  is  all  right  now.  The  cattle 
industry  brings  in  a  good  revenue,  and,  besides, 
it  is  better  suited  for  grazing  than  farming,  any 
way." 

"But  you  believe  in  the  old  saying,  'The  great 
est  good  to  the  greatest  number/  do  you  not?" 

"Yes,  certainly,  but " 

At  this  juncture  Mi.  Thomas  indicated  that  it 
was  time  they  were  going,  and  the  conversa 
tion  ended  very  abruptly,  without  either  having 
the  opportunity  of  defending  his  theory  of  po 
litical  eccr^my — the  right  that  everybody  has — 
to  save  the  country. 

It  was  very  evident  that  Tom  did  not  agree 
with  John  and  Mr.  Thomas. 

After  the  departure  of  Mr.  Thomas  and  John, 
Tom  turned  and  asked  Ralph : 

"Mr.  Thomas  has  considerable  cattle  inter 
ests,  has  he  not,  Ralph  ?" 

"Why,  he  is  one  of  the  largest  cattle  raisers 
in  the  state,"  Ralph  replied.  "He  has  half  a 
million  dollars'  worth  of  cattle  now  ranching  in 


Tom  Johnson.  39 

the  western  part  of  the  state,  on  the  public  school 
lands,  and  the  last  legislature  came  very  near 
passing  a  hill  opening  the  lands  to  settlers  and 
making  the  cattle  barons  pay  for  their  grazing. 
It  is  so  monopolized  now  by  the  big  ranchers 
that  the  little  men  have  no  chance.  Father 
ranches  in  the  west,  but  he  owns  his  land,  and 
besides  he  is  not  connected  with  any  syndicate. 
The  company  that  Mr.  Thomas  is  connected 
with  has  nearly  a  million  head  of  cattle." 

"Oh,  I  see,"  said  Tom. 

Ralph  was  surprised  later  in  the  day  to  hear 
Tom  humming  a  tune,  and  more  so,  when  Tom 
began  to  question  him  about  Katie  Adams.  He 
even  went  so  far  as  to  tell  Ralph  that  she  was 
a  lovely  girl — and  a  very  sensible  one,  too.  Ralph 
had  never  known  him  to  manifest  the  least  inter 
est  in  any  female  on  earth  before. 

"Yes,"  said  Ralph,  "I  guess  she  will  some  day 
be  my  sister-in-law,  for  you  have,  no  doubt, 
heard  that  she  and  John  will  probably  marry." 

Anyone  looking  in  that  direction  could  easily 
have  seen  the  frown  on  Tom's  face. 

"Are  they  engaged?"     Tom  asked. 


40  Tom  Johnson. 

"No;  not  formally,  and,  practically — yes.  That 
is,  it  has  been  an  understanding  between  the  fam 
ilies  for  some  time  that  they  would  marry.  It 
is  the  wish  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas.  They  all 
think  a  great  deal  of  John,  whom  Mr.  Thomas 
says  is  destined  to  become  a  great  business  man. 
You  see,  John  had  his  portion  of  father's  estate 
set  aside  for  him  when  he  became  of  age,  and 
has  managed  it  well,  being  at  this  time  worth 
considerable  money  for  one  of  his  years.  He 
owns  stock  in  several  of  Mr.  Thomas'  enter 
prises,  for,  in  his  estimation,  Thomas  is  the 
Napoleon  of  finance  for  this  entire  country." 

"Ralph,  do  they  love  each  other — does  she  love 
him?" 

Ralph  laughed. 

"Well,  now,  I  can't  say  just  how  far  'gone* 
they  are,  but  from  the  indications,  John,  at  least, 
has  a  pretty  bad  case — to  use  a  Bowery  expres 
sion.  Then,  of  course,  a  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars  in  'cold  cash'  has  some  attraction  for  my 
brother  John." 

"Ralph,  do  you  think  it  right  to  marry  foe 
money  ?" 


Tom  Johnson.  41 

"Yes,  if  the  union  is  agreeable,  and  the  parties 
are  suited." 

"Ah,  you  are  right,  Ralph — if  the  parties  are 
suited.  But  are  the  parties  ever  suited  if  they 
do  not  love  each  other  ?" 

"Tom,  you  put  it  too  strong  for  me.  I  know 
nothing  of  your  Romeo  and  Juliet  affairs;  but, 
practically  speaking,  I  suppose  they  will  love 
sufficiently.  Anybody  could  love  and  admire 
Katie  Adams.  She  is  a  pure,  sweet,  high-minded 
girl,  and,  to  be  frank  with  you,  I  am  proud  of 
her  and  John.  John  is  ten  years  her  senior,  but 
that  is  no  disparity  in  age,  you  know." 

They  kept  up  this  train  of  conversation  for 
some  time,  and  for  some  days. 


42  Tom  Johnson. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  FEW  days  after  the  party  at  the  Thomases, 
T^TJ  was  returning  from  the  post  office,  when  he 
passed  Katie  Adams,  who  was  seated  in  a  buggy 
pulled  by  a  vicious  looking  mustang  pony. 

Ralph  also  appeared  on  the  scene  about  the 
same  time,  and  a  conversation  began,  the  drift 
of  which  soon  turned  to  driving.  Finally,  the 
girl  invited  Tom  to  get  into  the  buggy,  and  she 
would  drive  him  out  over  the  country,  give  him 
some  fresh  air,  and  a  view  of  the  scenery.  He 
at  first  demurred,  but  Ralph  pushed  him  into  the 
cart,  telling  him  that  the  evening  was  nearly 
gone,  and  for  him  to  go  and  get  a  fresh  breath 
and  enjoy  a  good  ride. 

Tom,  as  if  in  a  trance,  obeyed,  hardly  know 
ing  what  to  do  or  what  to  say.  The  pony,  with 
the  bits  between  his  teeth,  darted  around  the 


Tom  Johnson.  43 

square  at  such  a  terrific  rate  that  Tom,  fearing 
that  he  would  run  away,  grabbed  the  reins, 
when  Katie,  throwing  her  head  back,  gave  a 
laugh  that  could  be  heard  a  block,  and  as  she 
gave  the  pony  another  slap  with  the  reins  that 
started  him  over  the  old  pebbled  streets  at  a 
2 130  gait,  you  could  hear  the  loungers  say :  "Miss 
Katie  will  scare  that  young  lawyer  out  of  his 
wits  before  she  returns." 

Tom  soon  became  accustomed  to  her  reckless 
driving,  and  when  they  were  out  a  short  distance, 
the  pony  was  allowed  to  slacken  his  speed  to  al 
low  Katie  an  opportunity  to  describe  the  land 
scape.  But  it  all  looked  alike  to  Tom. 
Everything  looked  bright.  The  face  of  the  girl 
by  his  side  was  in  everything  he  looked  at;  in 
the  cabins  on  the  road,  in  the  tree  tops,  he  could 
see  the  laughing  face  and  big  gray  eyes  of  Katie 
Adams.  They  talked — not  particularly  of  any 
thing,  but  about  everything.  She  told  him  that 
she  was  coming  to  hear  him  speak  when  court 
met  again ;  that  she  had  heard  that  he  was  quite 
an  orator.  Tom  knew  that  this  was  not  flattery, 
but  it  tired  him  to  have  it  dinged  into  his  ears 


44  Tom  Johnson. 

as  if  he  was  a  prodigy,  but  not  from  her;  oh, 
no,  he  could  sit  and  listen  to  her  talk  always,  and 
about  anything.  Her  voice  was  music,  and  her 
laugh  was  rhyme  to  him. 

"Mr.  Johnson,  I  have  heard  a  great  deal  of 
you,  but  not  from  you ;  you  must  tell  me  of  your 
self  ;  of  your  people,  and  of  your  country.  Every 
body  likes  to  talk  of  his  country,  you  know. 
What  state  are  you  from,  Mr.  Johnson?" 

"I  was  born  and  reared  in  Arkansas,"  said 
Tom. 

Katie  laughed — not  a  willful,  insolent  laugh, 
but  her  eyes  were  sparkling  with  mischief,  and 
she  showed  that  she  could  not  help  it.  v 

"Why  do  you  laugh  at  that?"  said  Tom,  look 
ing  at  her  as  if  he  were  thunderstruck. 

"Oh,  pardon  me,  Mr.  Johnson,  but  we  Texas 
people  have  an  idea  of  Arkansas — that  is,  some 
do — and  it  is  an  old  saying  for  one  to  add,  when 
stating  that  he  is  from  Arkansas,  'now  laugh.' 
But  I  did  not  wait,  for  I  could  not  keep  from 
thinking  of  that  ridiculous  saying  when  you  told 
me  where  you  were  from.  Of  course,  I  know 
that  there  are  not  only  plenty  of  good  people  in 


Tom  Johnson.  45 

your  state,  but  that  you  will  find  as  much  culture 
and  refinement  there  as  you  will  in  any  part  of 
our  beautiful  Southland." 

Tom  was  puzzled.  Sometimes  she  would  look 
and  act  with  all  seriousness,  and  then  she  would 
go  on  like  some  giddy  school  girl  talking  to  her 
chum. 

"But  I  have  but  little  to  say  of  my  home  or  my 
people,"  said  Tom.  "My  mother  died  when  I 
was  an  infant,  and  my  father  some  ten  years 
later.  I  remember  my  father,  of  course.  My 
life  has  not  been  without  hardships,  and  my 
path  was  not  strewn  with  roses.  While  I  am  not 
ashamed  of  any  part  of  my  past,  nor  of  my  fam 
ily,  yet  my  former  home  has  but  few  ties  for  me, 
and  I  have  been  sorely  grieved  on  that  account, 
for  my  life  dream  has  been  to  succeed  in  my  own 
country;  among  what  friends  I  knew  in  my 
childhood  days,  where  my  father  lived  and  died 
an  honorable  man.  Home?  Miss  Adams,  I  do 
not  know  that  I  can  give  you  the  true  definition ; 
I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  had  a  home,  and  yet, 
I  revere  the  word,  for  the  teachings  of  my  father 
remain  sacred  in  my  breast,  for  I  know  that  he 


46  Tom  Johnson. 

loved  his  home,  where  he  merged  into  manhood, 
and  wasted  that  same  physical  manhood,  and  the 
fortune  he  had  been  years  accumulating,  for  a 
cause  he  believed  to  be  right  and  just.  It  seems 
that  I  have  a  longing  to  go  back  and  live  where 
I  was  born — no  particular  spot,  but  to  live  there, 
somewhere  in  the  country.  No,  I  have  no  home ; 
no  spot  of  earth  back  there  that  I  own;  I  never 
knew  the  tender  words  of  a  mother,  and,  I  be 
lieve,  that  men  and  women  reared  without  the 
care  and  influence  of  a  mother  are  not  what  they 
should  be.  It  seems  that  they  are  subject  to  mel 
ancholy  and  despondency,  when  they  should  be 
otherwise.  In  other  words^  they  do  not  appear 
natural.  Yes,  I  have  something  to  live  for;  the 
same  thing,  in  fact,  that  is  the  object  of  too  many 
men  and  women  of  to-day,  and  that  is  self. 
Is  that  all — well,  what  else?  I  am  no  more  ego 
tistical  than  other  men,  and  no  more  selfish,  I 
hope,  but  my  object  and  my  sole  ambition  is  to 
succeed  in  my  profession ;  to  make  a  name  that  I 
will  not  be  ashamed  of,  and  one  that  will  not  dis 
honor  the  father  whose  name  I  bear." 

Thus,  like  Othello,  he  had  "told  her  the  story 


Tom  Johnson.  47 

of  his  life,"  and  whether  she  thought  it  strange 
or  not,  it  was  true. 

Katie  seemed  changed.  She  did  not  appear  to 
be  so  jovial  as  before. 

"But,"  said  Tom,  "I  believe  that  every  man  is 
destined  to  be  the  architect  of  his  own  future. 
He  may  be  peculiarly  suited  for  some  occupa 
tion  other  than  he  chooses,  yet  I  think  it  depends 
almost  entirely  upon  his  own  efforts,  hence,  I 
have  chosen  a  profession  that  I  like,  and  will  try 
to  honor  myself  by  honoring  the  calling." 

"One  thing,  Mr.  Johnson,  that  has  caused  me 
to  view  the  profession  of  law  with  a  lack  of  re 
spect  that  is  possibly  due  it,  is  the  duplicity  of 
the  practitioner,  and  the  want  of  proper  regard 
for — I  will  say  humanity,  if  not  society." 

"Miss  Adams,  I  am  not  only  surprised,  but  as 
tonished  at  so  astounding  a  remark — and  com 
ing  from  you.  Proper  regard  for  society !  Why, 
our  profession  is  the  guardian  of  good  govern 
ment,  and  of  society  in  all  of  its  legitimate 
forms." 

"Is  it  not  considered  legitimate,  and  strictly 
within  your  prescribed  code  of  ethics,  to  take 


48  Tom  Johnson. 

any  case  that  comes  to  you — provided  the  fee  is 
satisfactory  ?" 

"It  is  only  the  honorable  lawyer's  duty  to  de 
fend  his  clients'  constitutional  rights,  and 
though  a  guilty  party  was  charged  with  a  crime, 
or  a  debtor  was  sued,  if  they  were  his  clients  he 
should  give  them  his  best  services." 

"Even  if  the  accused  was  guilty,  and  the  debtor 
owed  the  debt?" 

"Why— certainly." 

"Then  why  prevent  by  law  the  sale  of  whisky, 
poisons,  fire-arms,  etc.,  by  any  person  who  de 
sires  to  sell,  for  any  cause,  and  without  restric 
tion?" 

"Miss  Adams,  I  do  not  understand  you." 

"I  mean,  that  according  to  your  stock  in  trade, 
you  can  cause  the  law  to  be  enforced  or  violated. 
Why  deny  this  right  to  others  ?" 

"No,  you  are — I  beg  your  pardon — very  un 
reasonable." 

"Then  again,  I  cannot  see  how  your  profession 
can  act  as  they  do  in  the  practice  of  the  divorce 
law.  With  the  most  frivolous  grounds  for  dis 
solution  of  the  matrimonial  bans  they  will  bring 


Tom  Johnson.  49 

suits,  thereby  tearing  asunder  families,  and  mak 
ing  orphans." 

"There  again,  I  say  you  are  wrong.  I  do  not 
know  how  older  men  act  in  that  matter,  but  I 
will  never  take  a  divorce  case  unless  the  cause 
is  just — absolute  abandonment,  cruel  mistreat 
ment — or  statutory  grounds." 

"What  do  you  call  statutory  grounds,  Mr. 
Johnson  ?" 

"Ahem— infidelity." 

"And  do  the  lawyers  profess  to  construe  this 
law,  and  to  enforce  it  with  men  the  same  as 
women  ?" 

"Certainly." 

"You  are  evidently  new  in  your  profession, 
Mr.  Johnson." 

"You  are  hard  to  understand,  Miss  Adams." 

"And  you,  Mr.  Johnson,  are  more  unsophisti 
cated  than  I  thought  you  to  be,  if  you  believe  the 
law  to  be  enforced  as  you  say  it  is." 

"Miss  Adams,  I  fear  that  you  have  a  very  poor 
opinion  of  your  opposite  sex." 

"No,  I  treat  them  fair,  but  men  are  so  incon- 


50  Tom  Johnson. 

sistent,  and  they  seem  to  think  women  are  simple 
tons." 

"They  certainly  are  not  all  as  bad  as  you 
think." 

"Well,  I  hope  they  are  no  worse." 

"I  fear  that  you  are  becoming  a  man  hater, 
and  are  destined  to  be  an  old  maid — you  will 
never  find  your  ideal  in  man. 

"I  pray  no  such  calamity  awaits  me.  I  expect 
to  take  one  out  of  the  common  herd  some  day, 
and " 

"Reform  him?" 

:'Well,  I  do  not  care  to  assume  any  such  un 
necessary  or  hazardous  undertaking,  but  when  I 
do  form  that  alliance — he  will  cease  to  be  a  wil 
ful  and  wayward  bachelor." 

"Well,  I  hope  you  will  make  a  lucky  draw,  for 
you  know  they  say  that  marriage  is  a  lottery, 
anyway." 

"Well,  I  do  not  expect  a  paragon  of  virtue — I 
wouldn't  have  one.  I  want  a  man  possessed  of 
the  high  attributes  of  manhood,  and  do  not  think 
it  will  fall  to  my  lot  to  get  a  saint." 


Tom  Johnson.  51 

Tom  was  stunned,  and  for  some  moments  made 
no  reply,  and  then  the  conversation  changed  to  a 
subject  that  would  afford  more  levity,  and  Tom 
soon  became  bold  enough  to  laugh  and  talk  freely. 
He  became  so  bold  that  he  intimated  the  sup 
posed  engagement  of  her  and  John  Sterling,  but 
she  did  not  seem  to  understand  him. 

By  the  time  they  reached  home  the  twilight 
was  gone,  and  as  Tom  handed  her  out  of  the 
buggy,  he  very  properly  declined  an  invitation  to 
go  into  the  house,  but  bade  her  good  evening, 
after  thanking  her  for  the  ride. 

Of  course,  John  Sterling  was  a  frequent  visitor 
at  the  Thomases,  and  at  church  services  he  was 
generally  seen  with  Katie. 

Tom  had  called  a  few  times,  and  was  out  rid 
ing  with  Katie  on  several  occasions,  and  while 
he  had  never  approached  the  subject  to  her,  or 
any  one  else  as  to  that,  yet  he  knew  that  he  loved 
her.  Not  that  he  simply  admired  her,  but  loved 
her,  with  that  ardent  passion  that  a  strong  man 
of  his  nature  could  love  a  woman.  But  when 
the  thought  of  her  being  the  promised  bride  of 


52  Tom  Johnson. 

John  Sterling  came  up  in  his  mind,  a  pang  of 
jealousy  took  possession  of  him — a  feeling  that 
did  not  convince  him  that  it  was  John  that  he 
loved — not  even  with  a  brotherly  affection. 


Tom  Johnson.  53 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  old  town  of  Burnet  was  astir.  It  w  a 
hot  summer  day,  and  great  clouds  of  dust  could 
be  seen  up  the  streets  as  the  wagons,  hacks  and 
horses  were  coming  from  the  country.  The 
fence  around  the  court  house  square  was  lined 
with  hitched  horses.  Throngs  of  men  were  in 
the  court  house  yard  in  clusters,  on  the  street 
corners,  in  the  hotels  and  saloons,  talking  poli 
tics,  shaking  hands,  etc.  Men  with  linen  dusters 
and  broad-rimmed  hats — the  gentlemen  from  Bit 
ter  Creek;  the  wool-hat  and  one  "gallus"  boys 
from  the  very  forks  of  the  creek,  were  there. 
Never  was  such  interest  manifested  in  the  wel 
fare  of  the  families  before  as  was  elicited  by  the 
questions  asked  by  the  prospective  candidates,  of 
Tom,  Dick  and  Harry.  "How  are  the  children? 
How  is  your  neighbor,  Bill  Jones?  You  don't 
say  so!  Well,  well." 


54  Tom  Johnson. 

It  was  the  meeting  of  the  Democratic  county 
convention,  held  for  the  purpose  of  putting  out  a 
county  ticket  and  to  instruct  delegates  to  the 
state  convention.  It  was  before  the  days  of  pri 
mary  elections  in  that  country,  and  the  delegates, 
often  candidates  themselves,  were  generally  sent 
to  the  convention  uninstructed,  and  the  man  with 
the  best  "pull"  with  the  leading  and  influential 
men  generally  got  the  office. 

"The  Burnet  Bugle"  had,  in  a  leading  editorial 
the  week  before,  brought  out  the  Hon.  Louis 
Thomas  for  representative,  urging  the  convention 
to  nominate  him  for  his  keen  business  sagacity, 
his  financial  ability,  and  his  great  merits  as  a  dis 
tinguished  citizen. 

Tom  and  Ralph  were  in  their  office  looking 
down  upon  the  mass  of  humanity  gathered  about 
the  court  house,  watching  the  "buttonholing 
process,"  and  commenting  upon  the  frailties  of 
mankind,  when  old  Frank,  who  had  been  sent  to 
the  court  house  for  something,  came  in. 

"My,  genl'men,  but  dar's  a  monstus  crowd 
down  dar,"  said  Frank.  "Is  Mr.  Thomas  er  can- 
'date?" 


Tom  Johnson.  55 

"I  don't  know,  Frank — why?"  said  Ralph. 

"Wile  'go  I  heahed  'im  say  might  nice  to  a 
man,  'W'y,  how'do,  Mr.  Jones ;  how's  you  gitten' 
'long?  An'  how's  yo'  father?' 

"  'Ve'y  well,  thank  you,  sah,'  says  Mr.  Jones, 
'but  mah  father,  he's  dead,  sah.' 

"Den  Mr.  Thomas  he  say :  'You  don't  tell  me ; 
he  was  mah  bes'  frien' — how  long  he  be'n  dead, 
Mr.  Jones?' 

"  'Sixteen  yeahs,  sah,'  say  Mr.  Jones,  and  den 
I  wen'  'long  up  to  de  cou't  .house,  and  w'en  I 
come  back  Mr.  Jones  he  pass  by  Mr.  Thomas 
'gin,  an'  Mr.  Thomas,  he  dun  furgit  'im,  and 
say: 

"'W'y,  how'do,  sah;  I'm  glad  t'  see  you— 
how's  yo'  father?' 

"  'He's  still  dead,'  say  Mr.  Jones,  and  den  dey 
all  laugh,  an' " 

"Come  on  down  to  the  court  house,  boys ;  the 
convention  will  meet  in  a  few  minutes." 

The  speaker  was  Colonel  Sterling,  and  both 
Ralph  and  Tom  put  up  their  work  and  went  with 
him. 

Many  eyes  were  on  Tom  as  they  walked  across 


56  Tom  Johnson. 

the  square,  and  one  delegate,  speaking  purposely 
loud,  nodded  at  Tom  and  said :  "There  goes  good 
timber  for  the  legislature,  boys."  But  nothing 
was  further  from  Tom's  mind.  He  wanted  to 
practice  law,  but  had  no  desire  to  become  a  law 
maker. 

The  convention  was  called  to  order  and  organ 
ized,  the  various  committees  appointed,  and  prep 
arations  were  being  made  to  begin  the  balloting 
for  the  candidates  for  the  different  offices. 

One  delegate  offered  a  resolution  instructing 
the  representatives  in  congress  a  certain  way  on 
the  financial  question,  and  for  the  members  of  the 
state  legislature  to  vote  for  the  Hon.  R.  M.  Mil- 
burn  for  United  States  Senator,  his  views  on  the 
financial  question  being  in  line  with  the  resolu 
tion.  Tom  could  easily  discern  the  ear-marks  of 
Mr.  Thomas  and  John  Sterling  in  the  resolution. 

Upon  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  several 
speeches  were  made  pro  and  con.  The  delegate 
from  Hayville  favored  it,  and  likewise  the  en 
tire  delegation  from  Salt  Fork,  etc.,  and  so  on. 

Finally   some   one   called   on    Tom   Johnson. 


Tom  Johnson.  57 

"Let's  hear  from  Johnson — Johnson,  Johnson!" 
was  the  cry  taken  up  over  the  house 

Tom  arose  where  he  was  seated  in  the  rear  of 
the  house,  but  the  crowd  made  him  come  up 
to  the  front  and  take  the  stand.  He  prefaced  his 
remarks  by  saying  that  he  did  not  come  to  take 
part  in  the  deliberations  of  the  convention;  that 
he  was  a  comparative  stranger  among  them,  and 
not  a  politician,  but  that  as  an  American  citizen 
he  deemed  the  resolution  iniquitous.  He  thought 
that  it  favored  the  corporations  of  the  country, 
that  it  was  bad  to  advocate  such  measures  in  a 
Democratic  convention,  and,  he  feared,  would 
ultimately  do  much  harm.  He  made  a  strong 
speech  against  this  resolution — one  that  not  only 
won,  but  caused  him  to  be  admired  by  almost  the 
entire  convention.  A  young  stripling  dared  to 
oppose  Mr.  Thomas  and  John  Sterling — he  was 
independent.  Several  voices  cried  as  he  con 
tinued:  "What's  the  matter  with  Torn  Johnson 
for  representative?"  And  the  cry  was  taken  up 
by  the  others.  He  tried  to  protest  against  his 
name  being  used,  but  to  no  avail,  and  his  name, 
along  with  Mr.  Thomas  and  others,  was  placed 


58  Tom  Johnson. 

in  nomination,  and  he  was  selected  by  a  large 
majority,  and  of  course,  the  nomination  was 
equivalent  to  an  election. 

Both  Mr.  Thomas  and  John  Sterling  showed 
that  they  were  disappointed;  in  fact,  they  were 
almost  enraged,  and  took  "but  little  care  to  hide 
their  feelings. 

Tom  at  first  declared  his  intention  not  to  ac 
cept  the  nomination,  but  his  friends  insisted,  and 
he  gave  in  to  them.  They  crowded  about  him  to 
shake  his  hand ;  to  tell  him  that  they  needed  such 
men  in  the  legislature;  men  who  knew  their  in 
terests  and  were  brave  enough  to  maintain  them 
selves,  and  fight  for  their  rights.  But  Tom  was 
not  overly  elated,  as  strange  as  it  may  seem,  he 
wanted  to  practice  law,  and  knew  that  to  make  a 
complete  success  he  could  not  afford  to  get  mixed 
up  with  politics.  He  felt  that  he  was  new  in  the 
country — having  been  in  the  state  but  a  little 
more  than  a  year;  well — that  he  was  almost  a 
stranger  to  the  people  who  had  just  honored  him. 
Colonel  Sterling  and  Ralph  congratulated  him, 
telling  him  that  it  was  the  very  thing  for  a  young 


Tom  Johnson.  59 

lawyer  to  go  to  the  legislature  one  term,  and 
then,  of  course,  quit  politics. 

But  politics  is  like  intoxicants,  when  you  first 
start  to  indulge  the  habit  grows,  and  is  soon  deep 
rooted — it  is  almost  as  hard  to  quit  as  it  is  for  a 
fiend  to  break  away  from  his  opium. 

After  the  convention,  as  Tom  was  crossing  the 
street,  Katie  in  riding  habit  rode  up  to  where  he 
was.  With  a  roguish  look  she  exclaimed : 

"You  naughty  fellow,  you — I  hear  that  you 
have  defeated  papa.  How  can  I  ever  forgive 
you  for  such  a  crime?" 

Tom  began  to  tell  her  how  it  happened,  when 
she  broke  in : 

"Yes,  I  understand  that  it  was  a  case  of  the 
office  hunting  the  man,  pure  and  simple ;  but  that 
you  were,  however,  like  John  Allen  of  Missis 
sippi,  around  where  the  office  could  find  you  when 
it  called." 

Tom,  of  course,  did  not  understand  her,  but 
perhaps  had  he  seen  the  mischievous  twinkle  in 
her  eyes,  he  would  have  believed,  at  least,  that  her 
father's  defeat  would  not  cause  her  to  become 
heartbroken. 


60  Tom  Johnson. 

Tom  strode  on  up  the  street  and  met  several 
friends  (?)  that  insisted  on  him  joining  them  in 
a  few  mint-juleps,  which  after  a  while — he  did. 

Ralph  was  surprised  to  find  that  evening  at 
dark,  his  partner  and  friend  still  on  the  streets 
talking  politics  in  a  very  excited  manner.  Ralph 
accompanied  him  to  his  room,  where  Tom  retired 
without  showing  up  at  the  boarding  house  to 
furnish  food  for  gossips.  "My  God !"  exclaimed 
Ralph,  after  leaving  Tom,  "it's  a  crime — a  hein 
ous  crime — to  allow  that  man  to  take  a  drop  of 
whisky." 

That  night  there  were  two  men  in  close  consul 
tation  in  the  cashier's  private  room  at  the  bank. 
They  were  avowed  enemies  of  Tom  Johnson,  and, 
of  course,  their  names  were  Louis  Thomas  and 
John  Sterling. 


Tom  Johnson.  61 


CHAPTER  VII. 

"No,  John,  go  right  ahead  and  get  everything 
fixed.  Katie  is  a  high-strung,  strong-minded 
girl ;  even  her  mother  cannot  control  her,  so  you 
had  better  go  at  once  and  arrange  matters.  You 
see,  after  you  are  engaged  you  can  show  her  the 
absurdity  of  keeping  company  with  Tom  John 
son.  Hang  the  fellow,  but  I  believe  that  she  likes 
him  too  well  already,  and  we  must  do  something 
to  nip  the  matter  in  the  bud,  you  know." 

This  was  the  character  of  advice  that  Mr. 
Thomas  was  giving  John  Sterling,  relative  to  his 
courtship  with  Katie  Adams. 

They  had  both  noticed  Tom  and  Katie  in  their 
evening  promenades  and  rides,  and  they  also 
knew  that  Tom  called  on  her  occasionally,  and 
as  Tom  had  thwarted  them  in  one  of  their 
schemes  it  began  to  dawn  upon  them  that  he 


62  Tom  Johnson. 

might  become  a  formidable  opponent  in  another. 
But  neither  of  them  knew  of  Tom's  escapade 
with  his  political  friends  ( ?)  on  the  day  of  the 
convention;  in  fact,  no  man  in  Burnet  had  ever 
seen  Tom  in  a  saloon,  or  known  of  him  taking  a 
drink  of  intoxicants,  prior  or  subsequent  to  that 
time. 

While  Mr.  Thomas  and  John  Sterling  were 
thus  engaged  in  talking  over  their  plans  to  keep 
Tom  out  of  their  way,  Frank,  the  old  darky, 
drove  up  in  front  of  Tom  and  Ralph's  office  with 
a  buggy  for  Tom,  who  by  this  time  was  down 
stairs,  and,  getting  into  the  buggy,  drove  off — 
yes,  to  Thomas'  residence. 

He  found  Katie  waiting  for  him,  and  the  fleet- 
footed  horses  were  soon  out  on  the  beautiful  road 
running  like  a  pike  over  the  high,  rolling  prairie. 
In  the  extreme  north  it  was  nearly  time  for 
sleighing,  but  in  this  delightful  climate  it  was 
pleasant  weather. 

They  talked  of  the  weather,  because  it  was  so 
easy  to  say:  "What  a  nice  day" — they  talked  of 
everything  but  the  one  subject  that  Tom  wanted 
to  talk  about — one  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind 


Tom  Johnson.  63 

to  talk  about  on  this  very  drive.  He  had  known 
Katie  Adams  but  a  very  short  time,  but  he  knew 
that  he  loved  her,  and  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
know  his  fate  this  very  afternoon.  He  loved  as 
only  a  man  of  his  disposition  could  love  a  woman. 
He  was  poor  and  she  was  not,  but  he  was  not 
romantic  enough  to  allow  that  to  stand  in  his 
way ;  but,  to  do  him  justice,  he  never  thought  of 
her  fortune ;  it  was  she  whom  he  wanted.  Tom 
felt  that  he  was  almost  good  enough  for  her,  for  it 
must  be  admitted  that  Tom  was  somewhat  like 
the  majority  of  mankind,  and  had  a  pretty  good 
opinion  of  himself. 

But  to  save  his  life  he  could  not  tell  whether 
she  cared  for  him  or  not.  She  seemed  to  enjoy  his 
company;  was  always,  or  nearly  always,  cheer 
ful  and  jovial  when  with  him.  He  knew  that  it 
was  generally  understood  that  she  was  to  marry 
John  Sterling,  but  he  did  not  believe  that  she 
loved  him,  and  this  was  one  reason  that  he  made 
up  his  mind  to  push  his  suit. 

They  had  started  homeward  and  Tom  had 
made  no  progress  towards  a  proposition  of  jnar- 
riage  or  an  avowal  of  love.  He  could  not,  do 


64  Tom  Johnson. 

what  he  might,  get  the  conversation  to  drift  into 
the  right  channel ;  finally  he  made  a  desperate 
struggle  and  said: 

"Miss  Adams,  I  want  to  talk  to  you  seriously, 
and  want  you  to  be  serious  while  I  talk." 

To  this  she  answered  with  a  saucy  laugh  at  his 
drollness,  and  asked  him  how  she  must  act  to  be 
or  appear  serious. 

"You  are  just  like  some  giddy  school  girl," 
Tom  replied,  and  in  a  manner  that  showed  him  to 
be  somewhat  irritated.  He  was  quite  uncere 
monious,  to  say  the  least,  and  his  serious  mood 
did  but  little  to  allay  the  levity  of  his  compan 
ion.  He  might  as  well  have  said  to  her :  "Be  still, 
now,  I  want  to  make  love  to  you." 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Johnson;  you  are  very  com 
plimentary,  indeed,  and  I  am  lucky  to  have  such  a 
mature  and  austere  gentleman  for  a  chaperon. 
One  who  can  instruct  me  in  etiquette  and  make 
a  great  improvement  on  demeanor.  I  will  en 
deavor  to  be  more  ladylike,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  I  am  neither  a  nun,  nor  have  I  been  la 
boring  under  the  impression  that  my  uncheerful 
companion  was  a  monk."  Arching  her  brows 


Tom  Johnson.  65 

and  assuming  a  dignified  air  she  continued:  "It 
is  quite  chilly,  sir." 

Indeed  it  was  chilly  for  Tom.  To  use  a  pugilis 
tic  expression,  he  was  knocked  out  in  the  first 
round.  He  looked  puzzled,  remained  silent  for 
some  moments,  and  then  said: 

"Miss  Katie — Miss  Adams,  I  mean — you  cer 
tainly  misinterpret  my  meaning.  I  had  no  in 
tention  of  wounding  your  feelings  in  the  least, 
and  I  humbly  beg  your  pardon." 

"Granted,  my  lord,"  she  said,  with  as  much 
mischief  as  ever. 

"Now,  Miss  Katie,  do  not  consider  me  rude, 
but  I  want  to  ask  you  a  question,  and  will  do  so 
without  dodging  it.  Are  you — that  is — are  you — 
you  engaged  to  John  Sterling?" 

"No,  sir !"  she  cried,  and  the  shock  was  so  sud 
den  that  Tom  gave  the  horses,  which  had  been 
leisurely  walking,  such  a  slap  that  they  started 
into  a  brisk  trot. 

"Why  do  you  ask  that,  Mr.  Johnson  ?" 
•     "Because  it  is  public  rumor  that  you  are  to 
marry  soon." 


66  Tom  Johnson. 

"Then  Dame  Rumor,  for  once,  is  wrong.  I 
will  never  marry  John  Sterling — never." 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  that." 

"Why?"  asked  the  girl,  looking  him  straight 
in  the  eyes. 

"Because — you  are  ill-mated,  and,  pardon  me, 
but  I  do  not  think  you  love  him." 

"No,  I  do  not  love  him.  I  like  him,  and  have 
known  him  since  I  was  a  child,  but  he  is  not  my 
ideal  for  a  husband." 

"Miss  Katie,  I  fear  that  your  parents  will  be 
greatly  disappointed  if  you  refuse  to  marry  him." 

"Well,  I  do  not  know  about  that ;  I  have  never 
refused  to  marry  him,  for  he  has  never  asked  me, 
to  be  his  wife." 

Tom  began  to  look  at  the  surroundings,  and  h« 
saw  that  it  was  not  only  growing  dark,  but  that 
they  were  nearing  the  Thomas  residence  in  the 
outskirts  of  the  town,  and  with  what  he  thought 
to  be  renewed  courage,  said: 

"I  have  been  thinking  a  great  deal  lately " 

"No  doubt,"  she  said,  "all  professional  men 
must  necessarily  do  a  great  deal  of  thinking." 

"I  do  not  mean  on  that  subject,"  said  Tom. 


Tom  Johnson.  67 

"No?  Then,  pray,  Mr.  Johnson,  what  has  been 
the  subject  of  your  thoughts?" 

"You/'  he  said. 

"Me  ?  Oh,  I  thank  you  for  taking  so  much  in 
terest  in  my  behalf,  but  I  cannot  understand " 

"Katie,  what  I  mean  is  that  I  love  you.  Do  you 
not  know  it  ?  Can  you  not  tell  that  I  adore  you — 
worship  you?" 

She  cast  down  her  eyes  and  was  silent. 

"Speak,"  he  cried,  "and  tell  me  if  you  are 
angry  with  me." 

"No,  Tom,  I  am  not  angry — why  should  I  be  ?" 

"Could  you  care  for  me,  then,  you  think  ?" 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "I  could,  and  I  do.  I  love 
you." 

Tom  fairly  jumped  in  his  seat.  He  talked 
glibly  for  a  few  moments,  for  they  were  nearing 
the  house,  and  he  wanted  her  to  say  when  they 
should  be  married,  but  she  told  him  to  wait,  that 
she  would  think  about  it  and  tell  him  in  the  near 
future — that  there  was  no  necessity  for  being  in  a 
hurry. 

Tom  escorted  her  to  the  door  of  the  house,  and 
with  an  appointment  to  call  later  in  the  evening, 


68  Tom  Johnson. 

jumped  into  the  buggy  and  drove  off  the  happiest 
man  in  all  Burnet. 

******* 

Katie  had  dressed  and  made  her  appearance  in 
the  parlor  a  couple  of  hours  after  her  drive,  os 
tensibly  to  receive  company.  Going  to  the  piano 
she  picked  up  a  piece  of  music,  and  no  nightingale 
evef  sang  sweeter.  Her  voice  had  scarcely  died 
away  when  a  visitor  was  announced  and  ushered 
in.  It  was  John  Sterling. 

Her  disappointment  could  easily  be  detected 
by  the  faint  blush  that  passed  over  her  face.  The 
greeting  that  John  received  was  not  overly-cordial 
and,  in  fact,  he  thought  she  was  not  as  entertain 
ing  as  usual. 

John  had  been  seated  but  a  short  time  when 
Katie  stepped  to  the  door  and  gave  some  order  to 
a  servant,  and  added:  "I  will  have  company  this 
evening;  Mr.  Johnson  will  be  here."  This  was 
spoken  in  a  low  voice,  but  loud  enough  for  John 
to  hear,  and  to  take  the  hint,  as  he  thought.  A 
dark  frown  shaded  his  countenance  and  he  bit  his 
lips  as  a  pang  of  jealousy  struck  his  breast  when 
he  heard  the  name  of  Johnson  uttered  by  Katie 


Tom  Johnson.  69 

Adams.  He  knew  that  Tom  would  soon  be 
there,  and  thought  it  best  to  have  matters  adjust 
ed  before  he  arrived. 

"Katie,"  he  said,  "I  want  to  talk  to  you  this 
evening,"  and  without  waiting  for  her  to  answer, 
he  continued:  "I  have  been  talking  to  your  pa 
rents,  and  they  think  that  you  and  I  should  settle 
down.  You  know  that  I  have  always  loved  you ; 
since  you  were  a  little  girl,  in  fact;  and  I  have 
longed  for  the  time  to  come  when  I  could  make 
you  my  wife.  Of  course,  you  would  not  want  to 
marry  one  you  did  not  love,  nor  one  that  did  not 
love  you.  I  flatter  myself  by  saying  that  I  am 
well  able  to  take  good  care  of  you  and  make  you 
happy.  I  know  that  you  have  considerable  prop 
erty,  and  you  must  have  some  one  with  business 
ability  to  look  after  it,  and  I  am  by  no  means  a 
pauper." 

"I  am  sorry,  John,  but  I  cannot  marry  you — I 
do  not  want  to  marry  just  now ;  that  is,  I  do  not 
love  you  well  enough  to  become  your  wife." 

"What !"  He  almost  screamed.  He  had  risen 
from  his  seat  and  was  now  standing,  gripping 
the  back  of  his  chair  as  if  to  keep  from  falling. 


70  Tom  Johnson. 

"Have  you  considered  this  matter?"  he  asked,  in 
a  hoarse,  but  distinct  voice. 

"Yes,  for  a  long  time.  I  know  that  it  has  been 
the  cherished  wish  of  our  families  that  we  should 
one  day  be  married,  but  I  have  made  up  my  mind, 
and — for  good." 

John's  face  was  almost  black  with  rage,  not 
withstanding  he  tried  very  hard  to  conceal  his 
anger — his  almost  uncontrollable  temper. 

"Has  Johnson  had  anything  to  do  with  your 
making  up  your  mind  to  not  marry  me?"  he 
asked. 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,"  she  laughingly  and  sauc 
ily  replied.  "We  are  engaged  to  be  married,  our 
selves,  you  know." 

"What's  that — you  are  engaged — who?" 

"Why,  sir,  the  Honorable  Thomas  B.  Johnson, 
of  the  firm  of  Johnson  &  Sterling,  and  your  hum 
ble  servant."  This  reply  she  made  with  mock 
dignity,  and,  bowing  very  low,  said:  "Pray,  be 
seated." 

Hardly  had  they  resumed  their  seats  when  Tom 
was  announced. 

If  the  reader  expects  a  scene  he  will  be  dis- 


Tom  Johnson.  71 

appointed,  for  John  Sterling  soon  found  an  op 
portunity  to  excuse  himself,  and  retired.  What 
he  did  and  what  he  thought  can  only  be  conjec 
tured,  but  it  is  hardly  probable  that  his  dreams 
were  very  pleasant  that  night,  if  they  were  mir 
rored  from  his  thoughts  of  the  evening. 

Tom  and  Katie  were  too  much  encumbered 
with  their  own  happiness  to  give  thought  to  John, 
or  any  one  else,  and  Tom  had  been  in  the  parlor 
but  a  short  time  when  he  said : 

"Katie,  you  have  told  no  one  of  our  engage 
ment,  have  you  ?" 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "I  have  told  John." 

A  look  of  displeasure  was  noticed  on  Tom's 
face,  as  he  continued : 

"Do  you  not  think  that  it  would  be  a  better  plan 
to  say  nothing  for  a  while,  for,  of  course,  your 
parents  will  object  to  our  marriage?" 

"Yes,  Tom,  I  had  to  tell  John.  He  asked  me 
to  marry  him,  and  when  I  declined  his  offer,  he 
accused  you  of  being  the  cause,  and  then — I  told 
him.  I  believe  that  my  mother  will  be  willing 
for  me  to  marry  the  man  I  love,  when  she  knows 
all." 


72  Tom  Johnson. 

"I  hope  so,  dear ;  but  if  she  should  refuse  ?" 

"Tom,  I  love  my  mother,  and  want  to  be  obedi 
ent,  but  there  is  a  time  when — well,  Tom,  I  will 
forsake  all  for  you,  if  you  will  but  let  me. 

"Tom,  have  you  another  sweetheart — have  you 
a  picture  of  any  other  girl?  If  you  have  you 
must  send  it  to  her  at  once — no,  destroy  it.  Re 
member  that  you  are  mine,  now,  mine !  You  must 
not  give  me  cause  to  be  jealous,  Tom.  I  must 
and  will  have  all  your  love  or  none ;  I  am  no  play 
thing " 

Tom,  in  a  fit  of  laughter,  replied : 

"Why,  my  stars!  You  little  goose;  what  put 
such  ideas  into  your  head  ?  You  are  my  first  and 
only  sweetheart,  dear." 

"Oh,  Tom,  I  don't  know  what  is  wrong  with 
me,  but  I  fear  that  something  will  come  between 
us.  Let  nothing  come  to  separate  us — let  us  have 
no  secrets ;  let  us  confide  in  each  other.  Tell  me," 
she  said,  after  a  pause,  "all  your  love  scrapes ;  I 
will  forgive  you  for  the  past,  but  your  future  is 
mine.  I  am  a  part  of  your  life  henceforth.  No, 
tell  me  nothing.  I  could  scratch  her  eyes  out — I 
will !  Is  she  a  blonde  ?  Yes,  I  know  she  is ;  one 


Tom  Johnson.  73 

of  those  flaxen-haired,  doll- faced  girls  that  silly 
men  go  crazy  and  rave  over " 

"Say,"  broke  in  Tom,  "what  are  you  raving 
about?  There  is  no  girl — I  swear  it " 

"Will  you?  Oh,  Tom,  don't  deceive  me, 
for " 

"Oh,  pshaw,  little  girl."  And  the. rascal  mus 
tered  up  courage  and  took  her  in  his  arms,  and 
actually  kissed  her. 

Well,  it  would  not  be  fair  to  further  pry  in  on 
their  tete-a-tete,  and  we  will  draw  the  curtain  and 
leave  them  for  the  present  enjoying  the  happi 
ness  of  the  bright  sunshine,  that  is  often  followed 
by  a  storm. 


74  Tom  Johnson. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

As  the  time  drew  near  for  Tom's  departure  for 
the  Capitol,  where  he  was  to  assume  the  duties  as 
representative  for  Burnet  county,  it  began  to 
dawn  upon  his  firm  that  he  would  be  greatly 
missed,  and  that  Ralph  needed,  or  would  need, 
some  assistance  during  Tom's  absence  from  the 
office.  They  therefore  decided  to  obtain  the  serv 
ices  of  a  stenographer.  They  wrote  a  leading 
attorney  in  Austin  to  look  out  and  send  them  a 
good  stenographer,  and  in  a  few  days  received 
a  telegram  stating  that  one  would  arrive  on  the 
next  train. 

To  their  utter  astonishment — for  they  were 
looking  for  a  young  man — a  young  lady  came  to 
the  office  with  a  letter  from  Judge  English  high 
ly  recommending  Miss  Ella  Arnold,  not  only  as 
a  competent  stenographer,  but  a  lady  as  well. 


Tom  Johnson.  75 

It  was  not  long  before  Katie  called  on  Miss 
Arnold  at  her  boarding  place,  for  she  had  ob 
tained  board  at  one  of  the  best  families  in  Burnet, 
and  found  her  to  be  a  good,  sweet  girl,  as  she 
afterwards  said,  and  a  warm  friendship  at  once 
sprung  up  between  them.  Katie  Adams  did  not 
think  that  she  was  condescending  by  visiting  this 
girl,  and  by  having  her  call  on  her,  for  she  was 
too  sensible  for  that,  and  was  endeavoring 
to  lighten  her  burdens  and  make  her  stay  in  Bur- 
net  pleasant,  for  she  had  to  earn  her  living  by 
hard  work — honest  and  legitimate  toil. 

Miss  Arnold's  first  impression  of  Katie  Adams 
was  that  she  was  a  splendid  girl,  but  awfully 
daring  in  some  of  her  opinions.  Of  course,  as 
Miss  Arnold  was  in  the  employ  of  Johnson 
&  Sterling,  that  firm  came  in  for  a  part  of  the 
conversation,  and  Miss  Arnold  thought  that  in 
Katie  Adams'  opinion,  the  firm  consisted  wholly 
of  Mr.  Thomas  B.  Johnson,  and  that  the  future 
success  of  the  state  depended  upon  the  Honorable 
Thomas  B.  Johnson,  and  that  while  this  country 
of  ours  could  have  in  the  past  boasted  of  some 
great  men,  they  had,  at  the  present  counting,  been 


76  Tom  Johnson. 

thinned  down  to  one  man,  to  wit :  Tom  Johnson. 

Miss  Arnold  soon  became  familiar  with  the 
work  of  the  office,  and  when  Tom  left  for  Austin, 
a  few  weeks  after  her  arrival  in  Burnet,  she  had 
virtually  become  a  fixture  in  the  firm. 

The  legislature  had  been  in  session  for  some 
time  before  anything  of  unusual  importance 
took  place.  Tom  took  hold  like  an  old  timer,  so 
to  speak,  and  soon  convinced  his  colleagues  that 
he  was  no  mediocre. 

Shortly  after  the  convening  of  the  general  as 
sembly  Katie  Adams  and  her  mother  accompanied 
Mr.  Thomas  to  Austin,  where,  it  was  said,  he 
went  to  lobby  for  the  corporations  that  he  repre 
sented. 

Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  objected  to  Katie's 
choice  of  Tom,  but  she  proved  to  be,  in  that  light, 
a  very  stubborn  girl,  and  demonstrated  that  she 
had  a  will  of  her  own.  She  and  Tom  were  natur 
ally  thrown  together  a  great  deal  while  in  the 
capital  city. 

Mr.  Thomas  and  John  Sterling  had  been  in 
strumental  in  circulating  all  kinds  of  reports 
about  Tom,  endeavoring  to  break  the  engage- 


Tom  Johnson.  77 

ment,  but  to  no  avail,  for  it  seemed  that  Katie 
was  easily  convinced  that  the  reports  were  un 
true,  and  they  were  happy  in  each  other's  love. 

During  the  session  of  the  legislature  a  bill  was 
introduced  authorizing  the  state  to  lease  certain 
school  lands  to  cattle-men  at  one  cent  per  acre 
annually,  but  no  lease  to  let  for  less  that  ten 
thousand  acres,  and  for  a  term  of  not  less  than 
ten  years. 

The  bill  was  referred  to  a  committee  of  which 
Tom  was  a  member,  but  before  it  could  be  acted 
on  by  the  committee  Mr.  Thomas  sent  out  cards 
for  a  reception  at  his  hotel  in  the  city,  but  which 
was  in  reality  intended  as  a  banquet  for  the  sup 
porters  of  this,  his  pet  measure,  and,  of  course, 
Tom  was  invited  and  attended. 

The  banquet  was  "for  men  only."  While  the 
wine  was  red  some  one  proposed  a  toast  to  the 
new  bill,  and  as  Mr.  Thomas  was  the  manager  of 
the  whole  affair,  and  having  introduced  Tom  as 
his  "home  representative,"  it  was  taken  for  grant 
ed  that  he,  Tom,  was  a  strong  advocate  of  the 
measure,  hence,  he  was  called  upon  to  respond 
to  the  toast. 


78  Tom  Johnson. 

Finally  he  arose  and  said:  "Gentlemen,  had  I 
known  the  object  of  this  meeting  I  probably 
would  not  have  been  here.  I  have  read  this  bill 
with  a  great  deal  of  interest.  It  was  drawn  by 
the  hand  of  a  genius  and  emanated  from  the 
minds  of  men  who  know  their  business,  as  well 
as  their  interests.  (Cheers.)  It  will  promote 
the  cattle  industry  and  knock  the  'grangers'  sky- 
high.  If  it,  or  some  measure  like  it,  does  not  be 
come  a  law  a  few  short  years  will  see  a  little  farm 
house  on  every  section  of  land  in  the  great  Pan 
Handle  of  the  Lone  Star  State,  now  the  'Ranch 
men's  Paradise' — and  then  woe  be  unto  the  cat 
tle  magnates.  (Hear,  hear!)  Man  cannot  serve 
two  masters — no  straddling  this  question^ — we 
must  show  our  hands  and  fight  straight  from 
the  shoulder,  hence,  I  am  in  favor  of  the  bill — 
(Good,  good!)  being  killed  outright.  (Great  con 
sternation.)  So,  gentlemen,  in  your  scheme  to  rob 
the  school  fund,  the  school  children  of  this  coun 
try,  retard  legitimate  immigration,  in  order  to  put 
money  in  the  pockets  of  the  men  already  grown 
rich  through  corrupt  legislation — you  may  .have 
acted  wisely  in  some  respects,  but  in  one,  at  least, 


Tom  Johnson.  79 

you  have  not.  So,  gentlemen,  I  will  retire — you 
have  invited  the  wrong  man  to  meet  with  you." 

No  bomb-shell  ever  raised  a  larger  commo 
tion  in  a  soldier's  camp  than  did  this  statement 
of  Tom  Johnson  at  the  Thomas  banquet.  What 
does  he  mean  ?  was  asked  by  every  one,  but  Mr. 
Thomas  could  not  reply ;  he  seemed  to  be  dazed. 

Every  means  known  to  schemers  and  lobbyists 
was  brought  to  bear  on  Tom  to  get  his  vote  and 
influence  for  this  measure,  but  to  no  avail,  and 
when  the  bill  came  up  for  final  action,  Tom  not 
only  voted  "no,"  but  spoke  against  it,  and  of 
course  was  instrumental  in  causing  its  defeat. 
He  advocated  the  changing  of  the  title  of  the 
bill  to  read :  "A  Bill  for  an  Act  to  be  Entitled 
an  Act,  to  Authorize  Cattle  Corporations  to 
Steal  Ten  Million  Dollars  from  the  People,  and 
to  Bar  from  the  State  Honest  Immigration." 

If  Mr.  Thomas  had  disliked  his  representative 
before,  he  hated  him  now,  and  he  then  formed  a 
resolution  to  be  revenged.  His  pet  scheme  gone 
and  defeated  by  this  young  "stripling"  who  had 
been  in  his  way  ever  since  his  arrival  in  Burnet. 

The   legislature   was  about  to  adjourn,   and 


80  Tom  Johnson. 

Tom  would  return  home — back  to  Burnet.  The 
people  there  all  knew  of  Tom  and  Katie's  court 
ship,  and  many  claimed  not  to  be  at  all  surprised. 
But  it  was  a  bitter  disajpoi  tment  to  at  least 
one  person.  Colonel  Sterling  was  a  grand  old 
man,  was  greatly  admired  by  Tom,  but  his  whole 
heart  was  set  upon  John  marrying  the  girl  that 
he  had  selected  for  him  w'nen  she  was  a  little 
tot,  hence,  he,  of  course,  was  grieved,  and  we 
might  say  that  the  warm  friendship  he  had  had 
for  Tom  was  beginning  to  wane — he  could  not 
help  it. 

Ralph  had  almost  worshipped  Tom,  and  while 
he  and  Tom  had  talked  but  little  of  the  latter's 
engagement  to  Katie,  he  could  not  but  think 
hard  of  his  bosom  friend,  whose  actions  he 
began  to  look  upon  as  almost  a  crime.  He  was 
hurt,  yet  he  loved  his  old  college  chum  and 
partner. 


Tom  Johnson.  81 


CHAPTER  IX. 

"  'Tis  human  to  err."  This  world  is  full  to 
overflowing  of  humanity — erring  humanity. 

During  the  session  of  the  legislature  Tom  had 
conducted  himself  in  a  most  exemplary  manner. 
His  environments  were  such  that  he  had  no  ex 
cuse  for  not  doing  right.  The  atmosphere  that 
he  lived  in  was  pure — with  the  aid,  encourage 
ment  and  advice  of  the  woman  he  loved.  But 
Tom  was  only  human,  and  had  one  of  humanity's 
weaknesses,  if  not  curses. 

Some  days  after  the  adjournment  of  the  house, 
he  had  business  in  the  city  of  Austin  before  the 
Supreme  Court.  He  was  chief  counsel  in  some 
very  important  litigation,  and  in  an  oral  argu 
ment  before  that  august  body  he  acquitted  him 
self  so  well,  that  he  was  the  recipient  of  all 
kinds  of  compliments  from  the  members  of  the 


82  Tom  Johnson. 

bar.  Tom  was  not  easily  flattered,  but  finally 
he  was  fully  convinced  that  few,  if  any,  other 
men  in  the  country  could  have  done  as  well  as  he 
did.  They  talked  of  him  and  his  speech  on  the 
streets,  in  the  offices,  the  hotel  lobbies  and  final 
ly  >  yes,  in  the  barrooms  of  the  town. 

Tom,  knowing  his  weakness,  repeatedly  re 
fused  to  join  his  friends  to  tip  glasses,  but — 
finally  he  fell. 

He  was  of  that  temperament  that  the  first 
drink  was  the  fatal  one.  Within  twenty-four 
hours  the  very  men  that  were  patting  him  on 
the  back  and  praising  him  for  being  the  greatest 
man  in  the  state  for  his  age,  were  now  disgusted 
with  him,  and  shunning  him. 

What  a  pity  some  men  are  so  constituted. 

"Oh,  God,  that  men  should  put  an  enemy  in 
their  mouths  to  steal  away  their  brains!  That 
we  should,  with  joy.  pleasure,  revel,  and  ap 
plause,  transform  ourselves  into  beasts." 

Tom  Johnson  forgot  himself,  forgot  his  man 
hood,  forgot  his  business — he  was  not  Tom  John 
son. 

The  day  came  for  him  to  return  home  and 


Tom  Johnson.  83 

he  failed  to  appear.  Another,  and  yet  another 
day,  and  not  knowing  what  kept  him  Ralph 
wired  to  ask  the  cause  of  his  delay,  and  his 
answer  was  from  the  landlord  of  Tom's  hotel 
telling  him  to  come  to  Austin  at  once. 

Imagine  Ralph's  horror  to  find  his  friend  in 
a  beastly  state  of  intoxication;  blear-eyed,  mind 
and  body  wrecked,  honor  gone — fallen  in  three 
days  from  almost  the  very  pinnacle  of  fame — 
of  honor,  to  say  the  least — to  the  very  lowest 
depths  of  degradation. 

Reader,  do  you  condemn  him,  and  call  him  a 
brute?  Do  you  censure  him  as  one  guilty  of  an 
unpardonable  crime,  for  taking  this  step?  This 
fall,  caused  by  one  drink  of  the  destroyer  of 
man!  God  made  Tom  Johnson,  and  vested  him 
with  his  disposition,  his  good  and  his  bad  quali 
ties.  Did  you  ever  know  a  Tom  Johnson?  No? 
And  yet  the  world  is  full  of  them. 

Did  you  ever  know  a  young  man  to  rise  step  by 
step,  by  his  own  efforts,  until  he  had  attained 
honor — a  stand^  among  his  fellow-men  that  the 
brightest  and  ablest  could  boast  of — and  in  a 
short  time  acquire  the  drink  habit,  and  within  a 


84  Tom  Johnson. 

month  gain  the  reputation  of  a  drunken  sot, 
while  it  took  years  and  years  to  gain  what  he 
had  lost  within  that  month? 

Did  you  never  suffer  the  remorseful  pangs  of 
debauchery?  REMORSE!  No  language  can 
describe  that  word. 

One  false  step  throws  away  a  decade  of  toil 
and  study.  One  glass — the  first  one — of  that 
vile  stuff  that  takes  men's  souls,  makes  demons 
of  gentlemen,  can  and  has  caused  more  unhappi- 
ness  in  men's  lives  than  all  of  the  other  vices  on 
earth,  that  is  if  you  call  it  a  vice  with  all  men, 
and  not  a  disease  with  some. 

Did  you  never  know  a  poor,  unfortunate,  hon 
orable  man,  to  pray  a  hundred  prayers  in  quick 
succession,  asking  the  Great  God  to  send  a  stroke 
of  paralysis  to  deaden  his  arm  and  hand  if  he 
ever  attempted  to  take  another  drink,  and — 
within  a  few  hours  afterwards  be  out  of  his  place 
of  business,  away  from  home  and  loved  ones, 
beastly  drunk,  surrounded  by  associates  that 
were  as  far  beneath  him  is  the  criminal  thug  is 
the  Christian  gentleman?  Ralph  remained  with 
Tom  a  day  or  two,  and  leaving  him  in 


Tom  Johnson.  85 

the  care  of  physicians  returned  home,  thinking 
that  the  affair  would  be  kept  to  some  extent,  a 
secret,  but  alas ! 

Mr.  Thomas  had  been  in  Austin,  and  had  of 
course  heard  the  story  in  details,  and  after  mag 
nifying  the  said  details  (the  true  facts  were  bad 
enough)  prepared  to  have  them  dished  out  to 
the  gossipers  of  Burnet. 

The  morning  after  Ralph's  return  Miss  Ar 
nold  asked: 

"Mr.  Sterling,  when  do  you  look  for  Mr. 
Johnson  home?" 

"Why, — er — in  a  few  days,  I  suppose,  Miss 
Ella.  Why  do  you  ask?" 

"Well,"  she  replied,  "to  be  frank,  Miss  Katie 
has  made  several  inquiries,  and  I  fear  she  is 
greatly  worried.  She  thinks  that  he  has  had 
some  misfortune." 

"He  has,  indeed,"  said  Ralph. 

"And  she  has  not  been  informed?" 

"Why,  yes — that  is  no— I  mean,  Miss  Ella, 
that  Tom  will  be  home  in  a  short  time.  Nothing 
serious,  I  assure  you ;  only  a  matter  of  business 
that  he  must  attend  to,  you  know,  that  will  keep 


86  Tom  Johnson. 

him  several  days  yet.  I  wish,  Miss  Ella,  that  if 
you  feel  inclined  you  would  take  a  walk  over 
to  Mr.  Thomas'  and  tell  Katie  that  Tom  has  been 
detained  longer  than  he  expected  and  will  not  be 
back  for  a  week  yet." 

Miss  Arnold  laughed  at  the  blunder  Ralph 
was  making  in  getting  up  an  excuse  for  Tom,  but 
Ralph  continued: 

"And  you  might  say  that  he  asked  to  be  re 
membered — yes,  that  is  if  you  care  to  go." 

"Certainly,"  said  Miss  Arnold,  "for  I  know 
that  she  is  very  anxious  to  hear  from  him. 
Why,  the  poor  girl  is  nearly  distracted.  Ahem, 
Mr.  Sterling,  I  hope  you  will  not  consider  me 
presumptuous,  but — of  course  you  have  heard  of 
the  slanderous  remarks  going  about  here  relative 
to  Mr.  Johnson?  I  am  sure  that  is  what  is 
worrying  Miss  Katie." 

"Slanderous  remarks — why,  what  dc  you 
mean,  Miss  Ella?" 

"They  are  circulating  the  report,"  she  replied, 
"that  Mr.  Johnson  is,  and  has  been  drunk  for 
several  days,  and  that  he  has  lost,  or  made  way 


Tom  Johnson.  87 

with  considerable  moneys  belonging  to  clients  of 
the  firm,  that  he  had  in  his  possession." 

"It's  a  lie !"  exclaimed  Ralph. 

"Oh,  I  am  so  glad  it  is  untrue." 

"That  is,  I  mean,  he  has  not  lost  any  money, 
and  none  of  the  '  -n's  clients  will  lose  any 
thing  by  it — will  lose  anything.  Miss  Ella,  let 
the  matter  drop.  I  beg  your  pardon,  but  I  do 
think  that  the  people  here  are  very  eager  to 
gossip." 

"Then,  I  presume  part  of  the  report  to  be 
true?" 

"True — why,  what  do  you  mean,  Miss  Ella?" 

"I  mean,  Mr.  Sterling,  that  if  you  will  tell 
me,  I  should  like  to  know  the  whole  truth.  If  I 
am  to  face  that  girl  with  a  falsehood,  I  want  to 
know  it.  Of  course,  you  do  not  expect — do  not 
want  me  to  tell  her  the  truth." 

"Miss  Ella,  I  don't  know  what  to  say!" 

"That  will  do,  Mr.  Sterling.  I  know  more 
than  I  want  to  now,"  and  she  returned  to  her 
desk  in  the  next  room. 

Colonel  Sterling  came  into  the  office  in  a  few 
moments,  and  seemed  to  be  greatly  agitated. 


88  Tom  Johnson. 

"Ralph,"  he  said,  "what  about  these  reports 
on  Tom  Johnson?  I  have  heard  some  fearful 
things,  and  if  they  are  untrue  they  should  be 
strenuously  denied,  for  it  will  damage  your  firm, 
and  your  name.  And  if  true — well,  son,  you  can 
not  afford  to  have  your  name  connected  with  him, 
I  understand,  sir,  that  he  has  used  funds  belong 
ing  to  clients  of  the  firm.  What  will  you,  or 
what  can  you  do,  Ralph?" 

"Father,  Tom  Johnson  is  an  honorable,  upright 
man — that  is  all  I  can  say.  Now,  please  do  not 
press  me,  for  I  am  not  just  now  prepared  to  ex 
plain;  but  that  I  repeat  that  he  is  an  honest 
man,  and  has  not  wrongfully  used  any  money 
belonging  to  others." 

"I  hope  you  are  correct,  sir,  for  I  have  always 
entertained  the  greatest  respect  for  the  young 
man,  and  on  your  account,  I  hope  there  is  no 
foundation  for  the  accusation,  but  I " 

"That  is  all  right,  father,  we  will  talk  about  the 
matter  later  on.  I  want  to  assure  you  that  all 
will  be  right  within  a  few  days." 

"I  sincerely  hope  so,  my  son,"  said  the  old 


Tom  Johnson.  89 

gentleman,  as  he  left  the  office  seemingly  much 
disturbed. 

Almost  immediately  after  Tom's  return  from 
Austin  he  called  on  Katie.  His  head  bowed  with 
shame,  remorse  gnawing  at  his  heart,  he  met  her. 
He  at  once  made  a  complete  confession  to  her — 
telling  her  all — at  the  same  time  saying  to  her 
that  if  she  desired  he  would  release  her  from 
her  promise  to  be  his  wife,  for  he  felt  that  he 
was  unworthy  of  a  good  woman's  love. 

"No,  Tom,  that  is  what  you  need.  Not  that 
I  am  a  good  woman,  but  my  life  is  yours,  and  to 
you  I  expect  to  devote  it.  I  am  so  sorry  for 
you,  and  my  constant  prayer  is  that  you  will 
never  forget  your  manhood  again.  I  do  not  cen 
sure  you,  but  pity  you,  and  may  my  God  so 
guide  me  that  you  will  never  have  cause  to  err 
from  any  act  or  thought  of  mine." 

He  did  not  reply.  He  only  held  out  his  hands, 
and  she  came  to  him,  laying  her  head  upon  his 
shoulder,  and,  well — no  curtain  lecture  ever  did 
do  as  much  good  as  the  soothing  words  from 
the  woman  man  loves. 


90  Tom  Johnson. 


CHAPTER  X. 

BURNET  county  was  at  this  time — before  the 
advent  of  the  barbed  wire  fence — generally 
speaking,  a  stock  country.  Large  portions  of  the 
county  being  sparsely  settled.  Only  the  valleys  of 
the  larger  streams,  such  as  the  South  and  North 
Gabriels,  and  Oatmeal  creeks,  beautiful  streams, 
and  the  Colorado  river,  were  settled  by  farmers. 
A  great  portion  of  the  county  consisted  of  high, 
rolling  prairies,  but  nearer  the  river  were  large 
chains  of  mountains.  The  old  Spanish  land 
grants  are  still  in  evidence  in  Texas,  and  in  this 
part  of  the  state  at  that  time  many  of  the  old 
leagues  were  still  intact. 

Between  the  two  Gabriels,  on  a  beautiful  di 
vide  several  leagues  of  land  had  been  bought  by 
men,  not  all  Northern  men,  but  some  of  them 
born  and  reared  in  the  Lone  Star  State,  and 
stocked  with  sheep.  This  raised  a  great  howl 


Tom  Johnson.  91 

among  the  so-called  cattle-men,  who  expected, 
as  they  had  been  doing,  to  run  their  cattle  on 
free  range.  In  fact  it  precipitated  a  war,  so  to 
speak ;  and  as  the  cattle-men  were  in  the  majori 
ty,  were  in  the  saddle,  as  it  were,  having  with 
them  the  officials  of  the  county  and  the  backing 
of  the  financial  men  of  the  country,  it  looked 
for  a  while  as  if  the  sheep  men  would  be  wiped 
from  the  face  of  the  earth.  After  trying  to  buy 
their  lands  and  failing,  they  then  began  to  try 
to  oust  by  violence,  and  it  was  nothing  unusual 
for  a  poor  shepherd  who  had  not  a  dollar's  in 
terest  in  his  flock,  to  be  called  from  his  tent  at 
night,  whipped  and  ordered  to  leave  the  country, 
the  brush  fence  that  penned  the  sheep  burned 
up,  the  sheep  scattered,  and  the  ranch  property 
injured  in  every  conceivable  form. 

Many  of  the  good  citizens  were  doing  what 
they  could  to  avert  the  spilling  of  blood  as  well 
as  the  destruction  of  property.  The  county  at 
torney,  an  honest,  courageous  fellow,  was  doing 
what  he  could  to  bring  the  criminal  parties  to 
justice,  but  all  his  efforts  were  futile. 

Finally,  two  of  the  leading  sheep  men,  Bud 


92  Tom  Johnson. 

Aker  and  Adolph  Mickel,  having  defended  their 
homes  and  property  with  shot  guns  and  Win 
chesters  until  they  were  compelled  to  bring  their 
families  to  town  for  protection,  called  on  the 
firm  of  Johnson  &  Sterling. 

Judge  Lucas,  the  most  prominent  and  one  of 
the  ablest  lawyers  in  that  section,  being  the 
former  counsel  of  the  cattle-men  had  refused  to 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  matter. 

While  Aker  and  Mickel  were  both  brave  men, 
yet  the  stories  they  told  of  their  treatment  were 
horrible.  The  hirelings  of  the  men  who  owned 
the  cattle  had  committed  depredations  that  be 
longed  to  the  age  of  barbarism,  and  the  proof,  at 
first  seemingly  meagre,  could  easily  be  procured, 
were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  many  of  the  wit 
nesses  were  afraid  to  testify,  knowing  the  influ 
ence  that  was  against  them,  as  well  as  the  char 
acter  of  men  with  whom  they  had  to  deal.  And 
strange  to  say  that  men  among  the  very  best 
citizens  took  sides  with  the  cattle-men.  Up  to 
within  a  few  years  ago  there  were  good  people 
in  Texas  who  thought  it  impossible  for  any  man 
to  ever  go  to  heaven  that  owned  a  sheep. 


Tom  Johnson.  Q3 

Tom  and  Ralph  were  retained  by  Aker  and 
Mickel  to  look  after  these  matters,  and  assist  in 
the  prosecution  of  the  parties,  charged  with 
arson,  etc.,  and  when  district  court  met,  Tom 
had,  he  being  the  trial  member  of  the  firm,  got 
ten  together  the  testimony,  and  with  the  assist 
ance  (?)  of  the  district  attorney,  who  turned 
the  case  wholly  over  to  Tom,  succeeded  in  send 
ing  several  parties  to  the  penitentiary. 

In  this  move  Tom  created  new  enemies  for 
himself,  for  the  whole  blame  was  laid  to  him,  as 
Ralph  did  not  take  a  prominent  part  in  the 
trials.  Tom  had  now,  not  only  Mr.  Thomas 
and  John  Sterling  planning  to  ruin  his  happi 
ness,  but  a  set  of  men  that  would  stop  at  nothing, 
possibly  planning  to  take  his  life. 

He  was  the  recipient  of  many  anonymous  let 
ters,  notifying  him  to  leave  the  country  within 
a  given  number  of  days,  but  to  all  of  this  he  paid 
but  little  attention — in  fact,  said  nothing  about 
it.  But  you  cannot  keep  these  things  in  the 
dark  in  a  little  town  like  Burnet,  and  it  leaked 
out  that  his  life  had  been  threatened,  greatly 
alarming  his  friends.  Of  course  Katie  Adams 


94  Tom  Johnson. 

was  very  much  disturbed  about  the  matter,  and 
cautioned  him,  as  did  Ralph. 

Old  Frank,  who  not  only  worked  around  the 
office  for  Tom  and  Ralph,  but  was  a  kind  of  a 
"general  roustabout"  for  the  town,  came  to 
Tom  one  day,  and  told  him  that  he  overheard 
some  men — cowboys — talking  in  Galloway's  sa 
loon,  and  from  what  he  gathered  in  the  conver 
sation,  they  had  planned  to  take  Tom  from  his 
room  the  next  night  and  horse-whip  him. 

To  this  Tom  only  laughed  but  old  Frank 
looked  serious  and  said: 

"Mr.  Tom,  you  don'  know  dem  men.  I'm 
gwine  tell  you,  suh,  dey's  scoundrels,  an'  mean 
'nough  t'  do  anything,  suh.  I  know,  'cause  you 
see  I  was  all  mixed  up  wid  de  kuklux  an'  de 
paterollers,  yes,  suh,  'deed  I  was.  Ef  dey  does 
come  'round,"  he  continued,  "you  jes'  k'm  me 
know  in  time,  an'  I'll  give  de  fus'  man  w'at 
teches  you  de  full  extents  ob  ol'  Lucy." 

"Who  is  old  Lucy,  Frank?"  Tom  laughingly 
asked. 

"Ol'.Lucy?  Dat's  mah  ol'  muskit,  suh,  an'  dey 


Tom  Johnson.  95 

ain't  no  gatlum  gun  can  run  'long  side  'er,  suh, 
nuther." 

Tom  tried  to  dispel  any  fear  on  Frank's  part, 
assuring  him  that  he  could  take  care  of  himself, 
but  that  in  the  event  of  trouble  he  would  be  glad 
to  have  him  and  "Lucy"  present.  The  darky 
left  seemingly  much  disturbed,  or  as  he  would 
put  it,  "mighty  pestered." 

Tom  roomed  in  the  upper  part  or  story  of  a 
building  on  the  public  square,  and  after  he  had 
retired  to  his  room  the  next  night  after  he  had 
had  the  conversation  with  Frank,  he  heard  a 
knock,  and  upon  opening  the  door,  confronted 
the  old  darky. 

"Well,  Frank,  what  is  it?" 

"Mr.  Tom,"  he  said,  "I  hope  you'll  'scuse  me, 
suh,  but  I  dun  come  t'  ax  you  if  you'd  lef  me 
stay  wid  you  to-night  ?" 

"Frank,  I  thank  you  for  the  interest  you  are 
taking  in  my  behalf,  but  I  must  ask  that  you  re 
turn  home,  and  at  once,  and  don't  let  me  hear  any 
more  of  this  foolishness.  Why,  I  am  no  'booby/ 
to  be  afraid  of  a  dirty  pack  of  cowards." 

<kl  know  dat,  suh,  but  you  don'  know  dem  men, 


96  Tom  Johnson. 

an'  I  do.  Mr.  Tom,  dey  gwine  t'  hu't  you  sho', 
ef  you  don'  look  out." 

"Frank,  I  tell  you  to  go  now,  or  I  will  lose  my 
patience  and  say  something  that  I  will  regret.  Go 
home,  and  I  will  be  able  to  take  care  of  myself." 

"All  right,  Mr.  Tom,  but  you  mus'  keep  yo' 
eye  op'n."  And  Frank  reluctantly  went  down 
stairs. 

Tom  went  back  and  soon  retired  for  the  night, 
and  something  like  an  hour  later  old  Frank 
crept  back  up  the  stairway.  Tom  was  the  only 
occupant  of  the  building  at  night.  A  dim  light 
was  burning  in  the  hallway  that  passed  his  room, 
but  just  at  the  head  of  the  stairs  was  a  little  al 
cove,  and  being  rather  dark  here,  Frank  secreted 
himself,  and  sat  down  on  a  cracker-box,  with 
"Ol'  Lucy"  across  his  lap. 

Everything  was  quiet  on  the  streets.  There 
was  probably  not  another  house  in  the  town 
open,  unless  it  was  the  saloons  beyond  the  square 
— or  beyond  the  court  house  from  where  Tom 
roomed;  the  town  marshal  had  long  since  re 
tired,  and  with  the  exception  of  an  occasional 


Tom  Johnson.  97 

howl  of  some  cur  dog,  the  town  of  Burnet  was  as 
quiet  as  a  cemetery. 

Frank  did  not  have  long  to  wait  before  he 
heard  murmurings  on  the  side-walk  below,  and 
directly  two  men  came  quietly  up  the  stairway. 
They  could  not  see  Frank,  but  they  were  both 
within  plain  view  of  him,  being  in  the  main  hall, 
which  was  lighted  to  some  extent.  They  both 
wore  masks,  and  each  had  a  pistol  in  his  scab 
bard.  When  they  got  fully  in  the  hall,  and  be 
fore  reaching  Tom's  door,  a  deep,  African  voice 
said: 

"  'Sense  me,  gen'men,  but  hoi'  up,  an'  don'  you 
terh  dem  guns,  'cause  Ol'  Lucy's  loaded  jes' 
'bout  fo'  foot  up  de  ba'l  wid  slugs  an'  tenpenny 
nails,  an'  she's  pow'ful  loose  in  de  triggah — dun 
cor.ke.d,  an'  ef  mah  fingah  was  jes'  happ'n  t'  tech 
de  ding  thing,  dey'd  be  a  "~atterment  heah,  sho'." 

"Who  are  you?"  roared  one  of  the  men,  step 
ping  back  as  if  to  draw  his  gun. 

"Nu'mine  'bout  dat  gun,  boss.  Jes'  tech  dis 
triggah,  you  know — mah  fingahs  are  gittin'  pow' 
ful  shaky,  too.  De  ques'shun  am,  gen'men,  who 
is  you?  Fse  putty  well  knewn  'bout  heah,  an'  I 


98  Tom  Johnson. 

ain't —  Don'  do  dat,  boss,  'cause  I  gwine  lose 
cumtrol  dis  heah  thing  torectly.  Ol'  Lucy  get 
pow'ful  stubbo'n  sometimes,  an'  ef  she  do  haf 
t'  go  off  dey'll  be  jes'  boodles>  ob  ha'r  an'  blood  t' 
spa'h  'roun'  heah.  You  see  dey's  a  private  con- 
flab  gwine  on  in  dis  heah  house,  an'  de  folks,  dey 
don'  want  t'  be  pestered,  so  I  suspec'  you  betteh 
face  'bout  an'  git  down  dem  steps.  Yes,  suh, 
pow'ful  easy  on  triggah — woa-a-p,  boss,  mah 
fingeh's  jes'  eachin'  t'  tech  it!" 

Just  as  the  men  started  downstairs,  cowed, 
being  thwarted  in  their  attempted  villainy  by  the 
old  darky,  Tom  came  to  the  door,  hearing 
voices  outside,  to  see  what  caused  the  disturb 
ance.  He  came  out  in  time  to  see  the  men,  and 
see  Frank  march  them  down  to  the  street,  but  by 
the  time  he,  Tom,  could  get  down,  the  cowards, 
joined  by  several  others,  had  mounted  their 
horses  and  were  riding  away  in  a  gallop,  hardly 
reaching  the  edge  of  the  town  before  they  set  up 
a  few  Comanche  yells,  and  fired  some  twenty  or 
more  shots  from  their  pistols,  just  to  show  the 
citizens  of  Burnet  how  bad  they  were. 

Tom  did  not  chastise  Frank  for  returning  and 


Tom  Johnson,  99 

standing  guard  over  him,  but  thanked  the  old 
fellow  for  his  actions  from  the  bottom  of  his 
heart,  for  after  Frank  had  gone  he  wondered 
after  all  what  he  would  have  done  had  he  been 
alone,  for  he  then  realized  that  he  had  been  un 
armed — for  that  matter,  Tom  had  never  carried 
nor  owned  a  pistol. 

It  is  a  matter  of  fact  that  the  midnight  visit  of 
these  ruffians  was  the  talk  of  the  town,  and  old 
Frank  was  the  latest  hero. 

Katie  sent  for  Tom  and  had  him  tell  her  the 
whole  affair.  She  swore  dire  vengeance  against 
the  whole  gang  of  cut-throats,  herself.  Oh,  she 
could  just  claw  their  eyes  out! 

Tom's  many  friends  came  to  him  and  offered 
assistance  to  bring  to  justice  these  fellows,  but 
Tom  told  them  to  let  them  go,  that  he  would 
be  on  the  lookout  henceforth,  and  he  flattered 
himself  that  he  was  a  match  for  them. 


100  Tom  Johnson. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

CONSIDERABLE  excitement  prevailed  in  Burnet 
over  the  attempt  of  the  ruffians  to  do  Tom  bodily 
harm.  He  had  won  the  enmity  of  these  men  be 
cause  he  dared  to  do  what  was  right,  and  had 
some  of  the  officials  of  the  county  done  as  much 
there  would  certainly  not  have  been  as  much 
trouble. 

Men  continued  to  come  to  Tom,  offering  to  do 
what  they  could  to  ferret  out  the  affair,  and  pun 
ish  the  men  who  were  trying  to  take  his  life,  but 
he  insisted  on  doing  nothing  for  a  while,  at  least. 

The  people  of  Burnet  were  by  this  time  nearly 
all  on  his  side,  and  were  highly  incensed  at  bis 
treatment. 

It  soon  came  to  his  ears  that  Mr.  Thomas  was 
in  league  with  these  men,  and,  in  fact,  incited 
them  to  attack  him,  believing  that  he  could  be 


Tom  Johnson.  101 

scared  out  of  the  country.  Thomas  wanted  to 
get  rid  of  Tom  at  nearly  any  cost,  but  was  hardly 
cold-blooded  enough  to  take  life,  or  cause  it  to 
be  done,  and  certainly  was  not  brave  enough  to 
do  it  himself. 

Tom  was,  of  course,  horrified  when  he  heard 
that  Mr.  Thojnas  was  implicated  in  the  affair 
to  get  him  out  of  the  country,  and  went  to  work 
to  convince  himself  of  the  truth  or  falsity  of  the 
charge,  and  was  soon  in  possession  of  facts  that 
convinced  him  that  it  was  true. 

After  he  had  the  absolute  proof  of  Thomas' 
complicity,  he  accosted  him  one  day  and  con 
fronted  him  with  the  charge.  Thomas  tried  to, 
and  did,  feebly  deny  it  at  first,  until  Tom  con 
vinced  him  that  he  knew  all.  Tom  told  Mr. 
Thomas  that  he  knew  he  was  a  dirty  coward ; 
and  that  he  did  not  have  the  manhood  to  come 
up  and  fight  a  man  to  his  face,  but  was  so  low 
lived  that  he  was  compelled  to  hire  a  pack  of 
scoundrels  to  do  his  dastardly  work,  and  that 
now  he  knew  his  game,  and  would  watch  him 
as  a  dirty  sneak  deserved  to  be  watched. 

To  be  sure  Thomas  did  not  resent  this  thrust 


102  Tom  Johnson. 

— cowards  seldom  do  resent  anything  of  this 
kind. 

While  Tom  said  nothing  of  his  discovery  to 
anyone  except  Ralph,  it  became  known — at 
least  it  was  soon  town  rumor — that  Mr.  Thomas 
was  in  some  way  mixed  up  in  the  affair,  and 
while  many  at  first  were  loath  to  believe  that  he 
would  do  anything  so  low  and  mean,  yet  many 
suspicious  glances  were  cast  at  him  as  people 
would  pass  him  on  the  streets,  and  inwardly  they 
would  condemn  him,  but,  then — money  covers 
a  multitude  of  sins,  you  know,  and  Mr.  Thomas 
was  soon  Mr.  Thomas  again,  the  wealthy  man 
of  Burnet. 

Torn  wrote  Katie  a  note  in  a  few  days  asking 
her  to  meet  him  at  a  mutual  friend's.  There  he 
told  her  the  news,  and  of  course  explaining  to 
her  the  impossibility  of  ever  entering  the  por 
tals  of  the  Thomas'  residence  again.  It  was 
decided  by  these  young  people  that  they  would 
be  married  at  once,  and  it  was  so  agreed  upon 
by  them,  the  date  being  fixed  for  a  few  weeks 
later,  Tom  promising  to  go  through  the  formal 
ity  of  asking  the  consent  of  Mrs.  Thbmas. 


Tom  Johnson.  103 

On  the  Sunday  night  after  his  meeting  with 
Katie,  while  Tom  was  returning  from  church, 
he  was  fired  on  from  ambush,  the  attempted  as 
sassin  secreting  himself  in  an  alley.  Two  shots 
were  fired,  but  as  if  by  an  act  of  Providence 
neither  shot  took  effect,  the  villain  being  either 
too  frightened  to  take  steady  aim,  or  too  coward 
ly  to  get  close  enough  to  hit  his  mark. 

This  certainly  wrought  the  people  up  to  a 
high  pitch.  A  citizen  had  been  assaulted  on  the 
Sabbath  night,  almost  within  the  very  shadow  of 
the  church  steeple,  and  within  a  few  blocks  of 
the  court  house — that  temple  of  justice  erected 
and  maintained  by  a  civilized,  law-abiding,  God 
fearing  people. 

This  was  the  topic  of  the  day  for  a  while,  and, 
no  doubt,  being  influenced  by  Mr.  Thomas,  Colo 
nel  and  John  Sterling,  the  latter  being  insti 
gated  instead  of  influenced,  came  to  Ralph  and 
asked  him  to  prevail  on  Tom  leaving  the  town. 
This  Ralph  promptly  refused  to  do.  While  he 
honestly  believed  that  his  friend's  life  was  in  dan 
ger,  yet  he  knew  that  Tom  would  take  it  as  an 
insult  to  be  approached  on  the  subject  of  leaving. 


104  Tom  Johnson. 

He  knew  that  Tom  Johnson  was  no  coward,  and 
if  necessary,  he,  Ralph,  would  defend  his  friend's 
life  with  his  own. 

Old  Frank  was  certainly  correct  when  he  told 
Tom  that  these  men,  his  new  enemies,  would 
stop  at  nothing. 

Tom  had  soon  to  go  to  the  country  to  try  a 
cause  before  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  Ralph, 
knowing  how  sensitive  he  was,  went  to  Chris 
Norfleet,  the  sheriff,  and  asked  if  he  could  ar 
range  to  have  a  good  man  go  along,  without 
Tom  knowing  that  he  was  to  be  shadowed. 
Norfleet  understood  the  situation,  and  replied: 

"Yes,  Ralph,  I  have  business  in  that  section, 
and  will  go  myself." 

After  the  trial  Tom  started  home,  and  when 
within  five  or  six  miles  of  town,  in  the  broad 
light  of  the  day,  Sheriff  Norfleet  having  dropped 
back  a  distance  to  engage  in  conversation  with 
some  acquaintance,  a  cry  of  "Halt!"  was  heard 
from  the  side  of  the  road,  as  Tom  was  driving 
through  the  Cross  Timbers  of  Post  Oak  flat. 
He  turned  to  look  in  the  direction  from  which 
the  voice  was  heard,  and  several  men  rushed  out 


Tom  Johnson.  105 

to  try  to  grab  his  horse,  but  the  animal  became 
frightened,  and  made  a  mad  plunge,  and  within 
a  few  jumps  one  of  the  reins  broke.  Tom,  being 
unable  to  manage  him,  was  indeed  in  a  predica 
ment,  several  shots  were  fired  by  the  would-be 
assassins,  which  tended  only  to  add  to  the  fright 
of  the  no\y  ferocious  animal,  the  buggy  top  was 
up,  and  there  was  no  avenue  of  escape  left  to 
Tom  at  all,  when — crash !  went  the  buggy 
against  a  tree,  the  pieces  flying  in  every  direction, 
and  the  driver  sent  headlong  among  the  stumpy 
timber.  The  cut-throats,  seeing  the  condition  of 
affairs,  and  hearing  the  feet  of  horses  in  the 
rear,  and,  being  convinced  that  their  man  was 
now  beyond  all  harm — to  them,  hurriedly  left. 

When  Norfleet  came  up  to  where  Tom  was, 
the  sight  that  met  his  gaze  was  certainly  not  a 
pleasant  one — the  buggy  strewn  in  pieces  along 
the  road,  and  Tom  lying  on  the  ground  uncon 
scious,  with  an  arm  broken — mangled,  in  fact — 
and  blood  oozing  from  the  right  temple. 

It  was  two  weeks  before  Tom  again  opened 
his  eyes  to  consciousness,  and  then  in  a  room, 
where  he  had  been  carried  to  one  of  the  best 


106  Tom  Johnson. 

homes  in  Burnet.  His  life  had,  figuratively 
speaking,  for  some  time  hung  upon  a  thread,  but 
by  good  nursing  and  the  strong  constitution  that 
he  possessed,  he  would  "pull  through." 

Old  Frank  was  with  him,  and  as  Tom  looked 
down  at  the  arm  by  his  side,  in  plaster  of  Paris, 
and  then  at  Frank,  the  old  negro's  eyes  glistened 
as  he  said: 

"You  feel  betteh,  suh,  don'  you?  But  den  you 
mus'n'  talk,  'cause  de  doctah  said  you  mus'  be 
kep'  quiet,  you  know.  Yes,  suh,  you'se  all  right, 
now." 

"Well,  Frank,  I  suppose  the  doctor  did  not 
forbid  you  talking,  did  he?" 

"No,  suh,  only  for  t'  keep  you  quiet,  suh." 

When  Tom  was  thrown  from  the  buggy  his 
skull  was  fractured,  and  it  was  feared  by  the 
physicians  for  a  time  that  it  would  prove  to  be 
concussion  of  the  brain,  but  now  all  fear  being 
dispelled  on  that  point,  he  was  on  the  sure  road 
to  recovery. 

He  was  highly  pleased  when  he  was  informed 
by  Frank  that  Katie  had  been  almost  a  daily 
visitor  to  his  bedside,  and — yes,  she  came 


Tom  Johnson.  107 

nearly  every  day  then,  with  flowers  and  with 
books.  She  would  sit  and  read  to  him  when  he 
became  able  to  sit  up  and  to  talk,  and  life  to  him 
proved  not  to  be  so  unendurable  after  all. 

He  soon  made  his  appearance  on  the  streets, 
and  while  greeting  his  friends  one  day,  Frank 
was  heard  to  say: 

"Huh,  you  can't  kill  dat  man ;  'cause  didn't 
de  cow-cappers  try  it,  an'  couldn'?  No,  suh,  Mr. 
Tom's  dun  wu'th  a  whole  passel  dem 
scound'els." 

Thus  it  was,  another  futile  effort  had  been 
made  to  either  take  the  life  of  Tom  or  make  him 
leave  the  country,  and  while  they  had  very  nearly 
succeeded,  he  was  yet  in  Burnet,  and  apparently 
as  well  as  ever. 

In  two  weeks  he  was  to  be  married  to  Katie 
Adams.  It  was  generally  known  now  in  the  town 
of  Burnet. 


108  Tom  Johnson. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

TOM  was  again  at  his  place  of  business,  having 
now  fully  recovered  from  the  serious  accident 
that  came  nearly  costing  him  his  life.  While  he 
was  receiving  the  congratulations  of  his  friends 
over  the  country  upon  his  narrow  escape,  he  was 
also  counting  the  days  until  Katie  Adams  would 
be  his  wife. 

Some  days  after  Tom's  return  to  his  office, 
Mr.  Thomas  and  John  Sterling  were  closeted  to 
gether  frequently,  and  old  Frank  noticing  it, 
muttered  to  himself:  "Dat  sumpin'  gwine  t'  nap- 
pin'." 

Thomas  and  John  Sterling  were  now  deter 
mined  to  hatch  some  scheme  to  prevent  the  mar 
riage  of  Tom  and  Katie,  and  they  were  low 
enough  to  stoop  to  any  act,  and  they  decided  to 
act,  and  at  once.  So  far  everything  they  had 


Tom  Johnson.  109 

done  had  proven  a  failure.  After  a  whispered 
conversation  between  these  two  gentlemen  ( ?) 
John  says : 

"Good ;  I  know  the  very  person  to  do  the 
work,  and  I  will  leave  for  Austin  to-night  to 
see  her.  You  remember  her ;  she  was  about  the 
lobby  a  great  deal  last  winter — a  little,  black- 
eyed  woman  that  'worked'  so  many  members  on 
the  commission  bill?  We  don't  want  a  coarse, 
illiterate,  lewd  woman,  you  know.  Ha,  ha." 

"Of  course  this  lady  friend  you  speak  of  is 
hardly  what  Caesar  said  his  wife  should  be?" 
asked  Thomas,  intending  the  question  to  be  a 
bit  of  sarcastic  wit. 

"Oh,  but  she  is  above  suspicion,"  said  John, 
and  they  both  broke  out  in  a  boisterous  laugh. 
The  negro  porter  was  dispatched  for  a  couple 
of  cock-tails,  and  they  drank  to  each  other's 
health,  and  repeated  with  a  "rousing  bumper" 
to  the  success  of  their  scheme  to  separate  Tom 
and  Katie. 

John  Sterling  made  his  trip  to  Austin,  ind 
upon  his  return,  from  the  way  he  and  Thomas 


110  Tom  Johnson. 

would  wink  and  chuckle  to  each  other,  he  nad 
made  a  successful  trip. 

"I  fixed  it  all  right,"  he  told  his  friend,  "and 
she  will  be  here  in  a  few  days.  She  made  me 
give  her  five  hundred  in  cold  cash,  but  if  she 
doesn't  make  a  blunder  of  the  affair  I  won't  be 
grudge  twice  that  amount." 

Tom  was  so  wrapt  up  in  his  own  happiness 
that  he  was  oblivious  of  his  surroundings — of 
even  the  apparent  coolness  of  his  old  friend  Ralph. 
There  was  a  change  in  Ralph's  manner  towards 
him,  but  he  did  not  notice  it.  All  the  world 
may  love  a  lover,  but  a  lover  generally  loves 
all  the  world — all  but  his  rival.  But  Tom  did  not 
know  how  near  the  abyss  of  destruction  he 
stood. 

******* 

It  was  a  beautiful  spring  day,  a  day  that  is 
seen  in  no  other  but  a  South  Texas  climate ;  the 
roses  in  the  Thomas  yard  had  begun  to  bloom 
and  fill  the  air  with  their  fragrance.  The  mag 
nolias  seemed  greener  and  the  buds  brighter,  as 
they  laughed  at  the  breeze  that  fanned  them. 
The  birds  that  flitted  from  limb  to  limb  were 


Tom  Johnson.  Ill 

no  happier  than  the  girl  who  was  the  promised 
wife  of  Tom  Johnson. 

Mrs.  Thomas  had  gone  down  town  shopping 
when  a  servant  announced  a  lady  to  see  Miss 
Katie.  Katie  asked  the  lady  (?)  in,  and  when 
seated,  invited  her  to  proceed  with  her  business. 

The  woman  was  comely ;  a  decided  brunette, 
petite,  with  black,  piercing  eyes,  and  was 
very  well,  but  not  flashily  dressed ;  but  anyone 
but  a  pure  girl  unused  to  the  ways  of  the  world 
could  readily  have  traced  the  lines  on  her 
face  that  indicated  dissipation  and  vice. 

"My  dear  young  lady,"  said  the  strange  wom 
an,  in  a  trembling  voice,  "I  hardly  know  how  to 
begin.  Oh,  God !"  she  cried,  "help  me — give 
me  strength  for  this  ordeal." 

After  wiping  a  few  tears  from  her  eyes  she 
continued,  in  a  very  affected  manner: 

"Miss  Adams,  I  am  a  stranger  to  you,  and 
you  to  me,  but  what  I  have  to  say  is  for  you — 
in  your  interest,  for  your  future  happiness.  If 
my  story  proves  to  you  what  I  have  said,  will  you 
promise  me  on  your  honor  to  breathe  it  to  no 
one  on  earth?" 


112  Tom  Johnson. 

"Why — I — I — do  not  quite  understand  you. 
What  can  you  say  to  me  that  I  should  not  tell  my 
parents — or  my — friends  ?" 

"But  if  what  I  say  will  save  you  trouble — yea, 
misery,  want  and  reputation,  will  you  promise 
not  to  give  the  author,  nor  to  repeat  the  story?" 

"Yes,"  she  said,  with  a  kind  of  far-off  look 
in  her  eyes,  wondering  what  the  woman  could 
mean. 

"Miss  Adams,  you  are  receiving  attentions 
from  Mr.  Thomas  Johnson,  are  you  not?  Are 
you  not  engaged  to  him?" 

"What  has  that  to  do  with  your  story, 
madame?"  sharply  asked  the  girl. 

"It  has  this:  he  is  not  worthy  to  touch  your 
hand ;  he  is  a  base  deceiver,  and  oh,  my  God !  he 
is  a  villain!" 

"What  do  you  mean  ?"  almost  shouted  the  girl, 
terrified,  as  she  rose  to  her  feet  and  stood  looking 
down  in  a  contemptuous  manner  on  the  woman. 

"I  mean,"  replied  the  woman,  "that  he  is  my 
husband — my  lawful  wedded  husband,  and  the 
father  of  my  child." 

Katie  sank  to  her  seat,  her  hands  grasping 


Tom  Johnson.  113 

her  skirts  as  if  she  were  in  great  mental  agony. 
The  woman  continued: 

"He  was  just  a.  boy,  of  course,  when  we  mar 
ried.  But,  Miss  Adams,  I  believe  he  will  come 
back  to  me  yet.  He  promised  to  do  so  in 
Austin,  but  he  failed  to  keep  his  promise  to 
me  more  than  once.  With  all  his  ill  treat 
ment  of  me,  I  love  him  still,"  and  she  very  nat 
urally  broke  down  and  cried  as  if  her  heart  would 
break. 

"More,"  she  continued,  "he  cannot  go  back  to 
his  home  where  we  live,  for  he  is  a  forger,  and 
is  now  living  under  an  assumed  name.  I  en 
dured  hardships,  made  my  own  support  while 
he  was  in  college,  that  he  might  reach  the  goal  of 
his  ambition.  I  bore  the  brunt  of  the  humilia 
tion  and  disgrace  of  his  crime  because  I  wor 
shipped  him.  Since  his  return  from  school  he 
will  not  own  me,  for  he  says  that  would  reveal 
his  identity ;  but  now  I  see  he  wants  to  play  me 
false  for  you — to  bring  disgrace  upon  another 
woman.  Oh,  Miss  Adams,  swear  to  me  that  you 
will  not  tell  him  that  I  have  been  to  see  you,  for 
he  would  kill  me  if  lie  knew  it,  and  add  murder 


114  Tom  Johnson. 

to  his  already  heinous  crime.  At  Austin  I  was 
mad  and  jealous,  anc1  threatened  to  come  and  tell 
you  all,  but  he  swore  he  would  kill  me — and  my 
baby,  too— if  I  did,  and  I " 

"Go !"    said  Katie,  pointing  to  the  door. 

"But  promise " 

"Go!  I  assure  you  that  he  shall  never  hear  a 
word  from  my  lips." 

As  the  woman  strode  from  the  premises  Katie 
stood  gazing  at  her  as  if  her  eyes  were  riveted. 
She  uttered  but  one  short  sentence:  "Oh,  my 
God !  such  treachery !"  But  that  was  sufficient 
to  tell  a  long  story  of  almost  a  broken  heart. 
Her  idol  was  shattered — her  faith  was  gone. 
******* 

Tom,  unaware  of  the  fate  that  awaited  him,  a 
few  minutes  after  the  visit  above  referred  to, 
sent  Frank  with  a  note  telling  Katie  that  he 
would  call  in  the  evening  at  their  friend's,  but 
Frank  came  back  with  this  message: 

"Mis'  Katie  say  she  kain'  'ceive  no  comp'ny  dis 
ebe'n,  suh,  an'  dat  you'll  hab  t'  'scuse  her,  suh." 

"Is  she  ill,  Frank?" 

"No,  suh,  she's  pleasant  'nough,.  suh,  but  dat 


Tom  Johnson.  115 

young  lady's  sick ;  dat's  what's  d'  matter  wid  her, 
suh,  she's  sick,  Mr.  Tom." 

Tom  was  impatiently  waiting  to  hear  from 
Katie ;  he  had  heard  that  she  was  indisposed, 
but  not  having  seen  her,  was  almost  on  nettles, 
when  a  negro  boy  a  few  evenings  later  came  to 
the  office  just  as  he  and  Ralph  were  leaving  and 
handed  Tom  a  package.  He  saw  from  the  hand 
writing  where  it  was  from,  and  hurri  i  to  his 
room  eager  to  devour  its  contents.  When  he 
tore  the  cover  from  the  package,  there  rolled  out 
on  the  floor  all  of  his  letters  to  Katie  Adams,  a 
ring  and  three  of  the  four  photos  he  had  given 
hen  He  was  astounded.  He  looked  at  the  bun 
dle  in  amazement,  and  a  short  note  caught  h5s 
eye,  which  he  grabbed  and  hurriedly  read: 

"SiR : — You  will  find  all  your  letters,  ring,  etc. 
Please  return,  if  you  have  any,  those  you  have  re 
ceived  from  me. 

"There  is  no  explanation  necessary.  I  have 
been  informed  of  your  past,  and  we  will  never 
meet  again.  Do  not  try  to  see  me,  for  it  would 
but  make  me  hate  you  for  it. 

"KATIE  ADAMS." 


116  Tom  Johnson. 

Had  he  been  a  criminal  receiving  a  death  sen 
tence,  he  could  not  have  suffered  more.  He  sat 
as  if  in  a  stupor,  the  cold  perspiration  on  his 
brow,  but  had  they  been  drops  of  blood  oozing 
from  the  heart,  they  could  not  have  represented 
more  pain.  He  looked  up  as  if  he  were  trying  to 
gaze  into  the  realms  of  an  unknown  world.  Give 
her  up  ?  Oh,  God !  how  could  he  ?  He  arose  and 
walked  out.  The  night  air  was  cooling  to  his 
feverish  brain.  He  would  go  directly  to  her 
and  demand  an  explanation.  No ;  that  would  be 
kneeling  to  her  vanity.  He  would  make  her 
come  to  him  on  bended  knees,  and  beg  his  par 
don.  He  would  walk  out  on  the  prairie;  and 
ere  he  knew  it  he  found  himself  at  the  Thomas' 
gate,  but — he  passed  on.  He  was  too  proud  to 
humiliate  himself  that  way.  He  would  never 
call  at  that  house,  nor  even  speak  to  her  until 
he  had  been  invited.  He  would,  however,  walk 
back  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  to  see  if 
the  house  was  lighted  up.  No?  What  could 
she  mean  ?  He  left  this  part  but  did  not  go  to  his 
room;  he  had  no  objective  point,  only  to  find 
solitude — some  place  where  he  could  get  away 


Tom  Johnson.  117 

from  the  world  and  think.  He  strolled,  heeding 
not  the  distance  nor  the  direction,  and  far  out 
from  town  he  tried  to  think.  The  prairie  owl, 
the  cat  bird  that  infested  the  few  scattered  live- 
oaks  were  his  only  company,  but  it  seemed  that 
they  were  laughing  at  his  misery,  instead  of  sym 
pathizing  with  him.  But  he  wanted  to  think. 
About  what  or  whom  ?  Was  he  alone  ?  He  thought 
so;  thought  that  he  was  even  without  friends; 
that  the  whole  world  was  against  him,  for  now 
he  had  the  proof.  Then  the  tender  part  of  the 
man  took  possession  of  him,  and  he  became  as 
a  little  child  and  wept — alternately  cursed  and 
wept.  Cursed  his  fate.  Yes,  he  hated  her — no, 
not  that,  but  then  she  deserved  it,  he  said.  Even 
the  bright  stars  of  the  heavens  seemed  to  look 
down  upon  him  with  pity.  Pity?  What  is  pity? 
He  looked  up  at  the  stars  and  cried  as  a  drown 
ing  man  would  cry  for  help :  "My  God,  my  past ! 
What  is  it?" 


118  Tom  Johnson. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Two  weeks  had  passed  since  we  dropped  the 
curtain  on  our  last  scene.  The  old  town  of  Burnet 
seemed  more  quiet  than  usual,  and  the  office  of 
Tom  and  Ralph  was  devoid  of  that  brightness 
that  had  hteretofore  held  full  sway.  Even  old 
Frank  seemed  sad.  Thomas  had  kept  John 
Sterling  fully  advised  as  to  matters  at  home,  and 
they  were  chuckling  over  their  success.  The 
supposed  wife  had  returned  to  her  habitue, 
wherever  that  was. 

Katie  had  refused  to  see  Tom  notwithstanding 
his  entreaties.  He  had  repeatedly  insisted  on 
an  explanation  (by  note),  claiming  that  he 
wanted  his  "past"  investigated,  but  she,  poor 
girl,  thought  this  to  be  another  piece  of  his  act 
ing  (she  would  not  call  it  villainy,  though  she 
tried),  and  his  entreaties  only  stung  her  with  a 


Tom  Johnson.  119 

fresh  pang.  For  some  days  after  the  visit  of 
the  strange  woman  she  was  almost  distracted, 
and  refused  to  see  anyone.  She  never  uttered 
a  word,  even  to  her  mother,  of  the  estrangement 
that  had  been  brought  about  between  her  and 
Tom.  In  answer  to  all  questions  about  him, 
she  would  simply  say  that  she  would  see  him  no 
more. 

When  Katie  informed  her  mother  some  days 
later  of  her  intention  of  going  to  Kentucky  to 
visit  an  aunt,  that  good  lady  knew  that  some 
change  had  come  into  her  daughter's  life,  al 
though  her  husband  had  not  dared  take  Mrs. 
Thomas  into  his  confidence,  hence,  she  knew 
not  the  cause  of  the  trouble.  Believing  that  the 
change  would  be  beneficial  to  her  daughter's 
health,  she  readily  gave  her  consent  for  the  trip, 
but  Katie  made  her  promise  to  tell  no  one  where 
she  had  gone,  so  her  mother  was  more  at  a  loss 
to  understand  her  than  ever. 

After  Katie's  departure  Burnet  had  but  little 
attraction  for  Tom.  He  was  not  the  same  man, 
and  being  of  that  despondent  nature,  again  made 
the  mistake  of  yielding  to  the  tempter,  and  at 


120  Tom  Johnson. 

times  tried  to  drown  his  sorrow  in  drink.  Alas ! 
how  many  weak  men  have  tried  to  do  the  same 
thing  only  to  find  their  mind,  their  soul,  nearly 
drowned,  but  when  coming  to  the  surface,  they 
would  meet  their  sorrow  or  grief  in  all  of  its 
hideous  deformity,  bearing  down  on  them  heavier 
and  with  a  more  deadly  grip  than  ever.  If  Tom 
Johnson  was  the  only  man  that  ever  did  this  you 
might  condemn  me  for  telling  you ;  if  he  was  the 
only  worthy  man  that  ever  dulled  his  bright  in 
tellect,  or  abused  that  talent  that  Almighty  God 
had  bestowed  upon  him,  then  it  might  be  wrong 
to  say  that  there  is  redemption  for  a  man  that 
has  abused  himself  by  drink. 

Strange  to  say,  but  Tom  did  not  confide  with 
Ralph — with  no  one,  as  to  that  matter.  He  had 
considered  himself  continually  between  two  fires. 
His  life,  his  soul,  his  very  self,  was  wrapt  up  in 
his  love  for  this  girl,  and  yet  pride  kept  him 
from  pushing  himself  in  person  in  her  presence. 
Had  he  told  Ralph,  he,  no  doubt,  would  have 
then  and  there  brought  about  a  reconciliation,  and 
brought  matters  to  their  true  light ;  but  it  was  not 
Tom's  nature  to  go  to  anyone  with  his  troubles. 


Tom  Johnson.  121 

Had  he  broken  his  promise  to  her  never  to 
drink  again?  Yes — what  was  a  promise  made  to 
so  fickle  a  being?  How  he  despised  her  one  min 
ute — and  himself  the  next — for  entertaining  such 
a  thought. 

He  would  go  at  night  and  take  a  stand  where 
he  could  see  her  house — yes,  her  very  window — 
that  he  might  get  a  glimpse  of  her.  Crazy  ?  Pos 
sibly  so. 

Tom  Johnson  was  not  one  of  your  ordinary 
love-sick  swains,  but — this  girl  had  made  a 
new  man  out  of  him.  The  sweetest,  best  part  of 
his  life  had  been  spent  with  her.  She  had  given 
him  inspiration,  encouragement,  hope — yea,  life 
itself.  Their  love  was  not  a  mere  passion,  but  it 
was  the  blending  together  of  two  human  beings 
of  opposite  sex.  The  uniting  of  two  natures  just 
as  opposite  as  sexes.  Yet  there  was  an  affinity 
that  would  perpetuate  that  love.  It  seemed  so  to 
Tom,  and  it  was  so. 

Affinity !  How  often  do  you  find  it  absent  in 
married  couples  ?  Do  you  realize  that  if  you  knew 
all  the  Maud  Mullers  and  judges  to-day,  even 
in  your  own  circle  of  acquaintances,  that  your 


122  Tom  Johnson. 

eyes  would  open  in  amazement?  Could  you  but 
look  into  the  inner  man  of  many  as  he  pores  over 
his  professional  books,  or  his  ledger,  or  as  he 
treads  the  furrows  behind  the  plow,  you  could 
hear  the  lamentations  of — yea,  the  heart-beats 
throbbing  out:  "It  might  have  been." 

Many  a  good,  pure  and  virtuous  wife,  ap 
parently  happy  and  contented,  while  crooning  a 
lullaby  to  the  infant  in  her  arms  drops  tears  of 
regret  on  its  sunny  and  innocent  face — tears  pro 
duced  by  the  memory  of  a  man  other  than  the 
infant's  father. 

Oh,  but  he  of  the  optismistic  view  says  that 
this  will  wear  off.  When,  oh  when?  We  will 
not  all  be  here  when  the  millennium  comes. 
But 

Ralph  thought  he  knew  the  cause  of  Tom's 
troable — per*  aps  a  little  lover's  quarrel — but 
thought  that  it  would  wear  off  in  a  few  days — 
when  Tom  quit  drinking,  but,  well  he  finally  gave 
it  up. 

Tom  Johnson  awoke  as  if  he  had  been  in  a 
horrible  nightmare,  and  to  realize  that  he  had 
been  leaping  down,  down  the  ladder  of  fame 


Tom  Johnson.  123 

much  faster  than  he  had  climbed.  His  applica 
tion  was  gone,  his  energy  seemed  dead;  he 
wanted  to  shake  "  his  surroundings,  and  es 
pecially  his  associates  that  he  had  made  during 
"his  nightmare,"  so  one  day  Ralph  was  some 
what  surprised  to  hear  him  say  that  he  was 
going  to  leave  Burnet.  He  told  Ralph  that  he 
wanted  to  make  some  kind  of  disposition  of  the 
firm's  business,  and  the  law  firm  of  Johnson  & 
Sterling  was  dissolved. 

But  few  of  Tom's  friends  were  even  aware  of 
the  fact  that  he  contemplated  leaving,  when  he 
had  already  gone,  his  destination  known  to  no 
one,  not  even  to  himself. 

After  drifting  aimlessly  about  for  several 
months,  his  better  nature  took  hold  of  him,  and 
he  became  determined  to  do  something  anyway, 
hence,  he  found  himself  in  a  Southern  Louisiana 
town,  where  he  made  up  his  mind  to  "hang  out 
his  shingle."  He  had  stopped  in  a  good  town, 
in  a  good  country,  and  notwithstanding  his  abili 
ty,  his  prospects  for  immediate  success  were  in 
deed  not  very  bright. 

A  stranger  without  money,  friends  or  clients, 


124  Tom  Johnson 

who  was  only  present  in  body — his  heart,  his  soul, 
he  had  left  in  Burnet.  Tom  Johnson  seemed  to 
be  in  almost  a  pitiable  condition.  With  a  very 
scant  library,  and  a  very  few  dollars,  he  soon 
realized  that  he  knew  the  value  of  true  friends. 
One  by  one  his  books  soon  began  to  find  their 
way  to  the  pawn  shop,  to  keep  body  and  soul 
together.  His  clothing  began  to  look  threadbare ; 
he  had,  in  fact,  almost  begun  to  feel  the  pangs  of 
hunger.  But  talent  like  his  could  not  be  kept  in  the 
dark  for  long.  The  great  God  does  not  bestow 
these  blessings  to  be  hid,  although  they  are  often 
times  abused,  to  the  dishonor  of  the  one  who 
possesses  them,  and  a  rebuke  to  the  God  who 
gave  them. 


Tom  Johnson.  125 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

TOM  was  now  a  stranger  in  a  strange  town. 
While  he  was  well  versed  in  the  law,  the  Louisi 
ana  practice  was  new  to  him,  and  it  required 
some  time  and  study  before  he  had  sufficiently 
qualified  himself  for  that  practice.  That  was  all 
the  progress  he  had  made. 

One  morning  he  began  to  meditate ;  he  realized 
that  none  of  his  friends  knew  of  his  whereabouts. 
He  also  took  an  inventory  of  his  earthly  posses 
sions — his  office  fixtures.  One  cheap  table  for  a 
desk,  three  stool  chairs,  one.  statute,  one  old 
greasy  volume  of  Greenleaf  on  Evidence  and  two 
volumes  of  Chitty's  Blackstone.  The  last  three 
were  presents  from  old  Judge  Cype,  given  him 
when  he  first  began  the  study  of  law.  They  had 
at  one  time  kept  company  with  a  well  filled  li 
brary  that  had  long  since  gone. 


126  Tom  Johnson. 

He  had  never  been  in  court  since  his  arrival  in 
Leeston,  and  as  he  looked  at  his  almost  thread 
bare  suit,  he  knew  not  whether  to  go  or  not. 
But  court  was  in  session,  and  by  way  of  diversion 
he  would  go  down  and  for  the  first  time  see  how 
they  run  the  courts  in  Louisiana.  As  he  walked 
into  the  court  room  he  beheld  a  spectacle  that  he 
never  forgot.  An  old  darky  about  fifty  years 
old  was  standing  up  before  the  bar  to  receive  his 
sentence  to  the  penitentiary,  having  pleaded 
guilty  to  the  charge  of  burglary.  The  proof 
showed  that  he  had  a  few  days  previous  entered 
the  smoke-house  of  a  planter  in  the  night  time, 
and  taken  therefrom  a  side  of  meat. 

The  judge  appeared  to  be  a  very  stern  man, 
with  a  judicial  appearance.  He  was  hardly  fifty 
years  of  age,  but  had  no  doubt  been  on  the  bench 
for  some  years.  Tom  walked  in  just  as  he  was 
saying : 

"Prisoner  at  the  bar,  having  entered  your  plea 
of  guilty  to  the  charges  of  burglary,  have  you  any 
thing  further  to  say  why  the  sentence  of  the  law 
and  the  court  should  not  be  passed  upon  you  ?" 

The  old  negro  first  bowed  his  head,  then  sham- 


Tom  Johnson.  127 

bled  a  step  or  two,  and  just  as  it  appeared  that 
the  judge  was  about  to  proceed,  said: 

"Marse  Gawge — 'scuse  me  fer  not  callin'  you 
Marse  Jedge — I  guess  I'se  guilty  er  stealin'  dis 
heah  meat.  I  use  t'  'long  to  yo'  daddy  long  fo' 
de  wah.  I  nu'sed  you,  Marse  Gawge,  w'en  you 
was  er  little  boy.  I  use  t'  play  wid  you,  in  de 
big  house  and  in  de  cabin. 

"W'en  you  went  t'  fight  de  Yanks,  Marse 
Gawge,  I  went  long  wid  you.  W'en  you  was  er 
capin'  I  was  yo'  body  servant.  You  dun  se'nt 
me  out  many  times  on  the  same  kin'  o'  trips  w'at 
fotch  me  heah,  Marse  Gawge.  W'en  you  was 
haungry,  lots  er  times  I  went  out  and  fotch  in 
er  shoat  er  a  side  er  meat  fo'  you.  But  den, 
Marse  Gawge,  dat  wa'n't  stealin'  dat  was  fo'- 
agin' — dat's  w'at  dey  call  it,  den.  Well,  Marse 
Gawge,  dat's  w'at  I  was  doin' — I  was  jes' 
fo'agin'.  I  couldn'  git  no  wo'k  t'  do;  I  tried, 
but  couldn',  and  mah  wife  dun  bin  sick  long 
time,  and  mah  pickaninnies  was  haungry,  Marse 
Gawge,— dat's  w'at's  made  I  dun  it. 

"I  guess  I  kin  go  on  to  de  tenipentiary,  Marse 
Gawge,  but  I  does  hates  to — I  hates  to  lef 


128  Tom  Johnson. 

chillin'  heah  to  starve,  Marse  Gawge,  I'd  fo'age 
'fore  I  let  'em  do  dat.  Yes,  suh,  w'en  I  got  dis 
meat  I  was  jes'  fo'agin'  like  I  did  endu'ence  de 
wah.  I'd  be  mighty  powerful  willin'  t'  wo'k  fer 
de  meat,  but " 

"The  motion  for  a  new  trial  in  this  cause  is 
sustained,  the  case  continued  until  the  next  term, 
and  the  defendant  allowed  to  go  on  his  own 
recognizance,"  said  the  judge,  endeavoring  to  re 
sume  his  stern,  judicial  look;  but  tears  were  forc 
ing  themselves  down  his  honest  cheeks,  and  many 
eyes  looked  on  in  amazement  as  he  left  the  stand, 
and  came  down  in  the  bar,  where  he  laid  his 
arms  tenderly  about  the  old  darky,  and  talked  to 
him  in  a  tone  that  few  could  hear,  owing  par 
tially  to  the  confusion  in  the  court  room. 

"Forgiveness,"  muttered  Tom,  as  his  eyes  fol 
lowed  the  old  darky's  retreating  form  from  the 
house.  "He  is  not  the  only  one  that  needs  it." 
But  do  they  all  go  to  the  proper  judge  and  ask  it? 
He  said  that  he,  too,  was  foraging — upon  the 
God-given  body  and  soul ;  upon  the  intellect  that 
should  be  used  for  bis  God  and  for  his  country 


Tom  Johnson.  129 

He  returned  to  his  little  dingy  office,  and 
waited  day  after  day  for  clients  that  came  not. 

While  on  the  very  brink  of  desperation,  ready 
almost  to  quit  his  office,  and  go,  he  cared  not 
where,  a  client  came.  One  who  introduced  him 
self  as  G.  D.  Samuels,  and  known  to  Tom  by 
reputation  as  a  wealthy  mill  owner,  and  who  had 
"struck  it  rich"  by  speculation  in  the  timber  busi 
ness,  and  was  now  classed  as  a  millionaire.  He 
placed  a  very  important  piece  of  litigation  in  the 
young  lawyer's  hands.  Tom  rubbed  his  eyes  to 
see  that  he  was  awake.  The  business  had  to  be 
settled  in  the  courts  of  equity,  and  it  is  useless 
to  say  that  Tom  succec  *ed  in.  winning  his 
claim.  You  can  imagine  his  surprise  to  find  his 
client  calling  on  him  one  morning,  and  espe 
cially  when  he  handed  Tom  a  check  for  five 
thousand  dollars,  informing  him  that  the  fee  was 
half  what  the  litigation  saved  him.  Tom  of 

rse  was  very  grateful,  and  at  first  refused  so 
large  a  fee,  but  his  client  insisted  on  his  taking 
the  full  fee.  Tom  finally  asked  — *  how  it  was 
that  he,  a  prominent  business  man,  came  to  him, 


130  Tom  Johnson. 

a  young,  inexperienced  lawyer,  with  such  an 
important  case.  Samuels  replied : 

"Once  I  was  friendless — an  outcast,  as  it  were ; 
or,  to  be  plain  I  was  tramping  through  Texas, 
and  by  some  strange  circumstances,  was  charged 
with  murder — with  a  murder  that  I  was  as  inno 
cent  of  committing  as  you  were,  but  then  I  had 
no  money,  was  a  common  tramp,  was  arrested 
and  tried.  Being  just  a  tramp  the  kind-hearted 
judge  appointed  two  young  lawyers  to  defend 
me.  They  had  never  had  a  case  in  court  before, 
but,  as  if  an  act  of  Providence  had  intervened,  in 
stead  of  the  defense  being  the  ordinary  and  cus 
tomary  farce,  for  the  amusement  of  the  bench  and 
bar,  one  of  these  young  men  was  endowed  with 
sense — both  of  chem  as  to  that — but  one  of  them 
showed  that  he  was  a  lawyer,  and  by  his  efforts 
I  was  acquitted.  You  are  the  man  that  cleared 
me — the  man  to  whom  I  feel  I  owe  my  liberty, 
and  I  have,  thank  God,  found  an  opportunity  to 
do  you  a  favor,  though  I  can  never  repay  you." 

"Are  you  the— the " 

"Yes,  I  am  the  tramp  that  you  defended  in 
Burnet  for  murder,  but  I  am  to-day  worth  some 


Tom  Johnson.  131 

money,  and,  my  young  friend,  since  I  have  learned 
who  you  were  I  have  been  watching  you,  and  if 
I  can  in  any  way  assist  you  I  am  going  to  do  it. 
You  need  tell  me  nothing;  I  know  that  you  have 
met  with  some  kind  of  misfortune,  or  reverses  at 
least,  but  it  does  not  concern  me.  I  have  the  ut 
most  confidence  in  your  honesty  and  in  your 
ability,  and  have  recommended  you  to  some  peo 
ple  that  I  trust  will  prove  to  be  very  worthy 
clients.  Good  day,  sir ;  I  will  call  again  in  a  few 
days." 

.  Tom  had  no  time  to  express  his  gratitude,  ere 
his  new  friend,  yea,  his  redeemer,  had  gone. 

From  that  day  on  Tom  Johnson  had  clients. 
He  had  been  tried  and  found  true.  Large  fees 
and  good  investments  soon  found  him  not  only 
above  want,  but  financially  speaking,  in  good 
circumstances,  and  with  one  of  the  best  clientages 
in  the  section.  Yet  try  as  he  would  to  be  con 
tented  and  forget  the  past,  he  could  not.  When 
he  began  to  brood  over  his  Burnet  life  he  at  once 
went  to  work,  and  endeavored  to  free  himself  by 
hard  study.  He  tried  to  be  jovial — was  a  very 
good  mixer  with  the  people,  none  of  whom  ever 


132  Tom  Johnson. 

thought  that  he  had  a  disappointment  in  a  "love 
affair."  He  had  long  since  ceased  to  try  to 
drown  his  sorrow  in  dissipation — he  had,  like 
many  of  his  disposition,  sought  relief  in  the  flow 
ing  bowl,  only  to  find  a  deeper  sorrow. 

The  pleasures  of  life  were  not  denied  him,  so 
far  as  the  world  goes,  hence  the  little  indulgences 
that  he  adopted  to  pass  the  time  away  and  make 
life  more  easy  to  bear,  failed  to  bring  that  pleas 
ure  we  are  prone  to  crave.  But  had  he  ever  ex 
perienced  any  real  pleasures  in  his  life?  Pleas 
ures — what  are  they?  Like  the  flitting  of  the 
breeze,  they  appear  before  you  for  a  second  and 
then  die  away  before  you  can  taste  the  flavor. 
As  Bobby  Burns  says: 

"Pleasures  are  like  poppies  spread, 
You  grasp  the  flower;   its  bloom  is  shed, 

Or  like  the  snowflake  on  the  river, 
A  moment  white,  then  melts  forever" 


Tom  Johnson.  133 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Two  years  had  passed  since  Tom  Johnson  had 
turned  his  back  to  old  Burnet,  and  to  some,  they 
were  long  and  dreary  years — years  of  waiting 
and  years  of  toil.  The  reader  has  some  idea  of 
Tom's  career  in  his  new  home,  but  how  fared 
those  he  left  behind?  He  had  left  no  trace  of 
himself  in  Burnet — even  his  former  partner,  and 
dear  old  friend,  Ralph,  he  had  never  written. 

But  as  to  Katie  Adams ;  think  you  our  heroine 
died  with  a  broken  heart  ?  Oh,  no,  she  was  only 
human  ;  nor  did  she  even  suicide — only  the  very 
romantic  people  do  that,  and  she  was  no  more  ro 
mantic  than  the  ordinary  American  girl,  and, 
while  her  disappointment,  and  what  she  thought 
to  be  Tom  Johnson's  perfidy  rested  heavily  on  her 
mind,  she  still  retained  possession  of  all  her  fac 
ulties.  Yes,  she  loved  him — loved  him  with  the 


134  Tom  Johnson. 

true  love  of  a  true  woman — what  a  jewel  that  is. 
If  such  a  thing  were  possible,  she  worshipped 
him.  For  more  than  a  year  she  had  kept  close  to 
home,  seldom  going  out  in  society,  or  indulging 
in  her  recreation  or  favorite  pastime,  riding  and 
driving.  She  avoided  John  Sterling  as  much  as 
possible.  It  had  never  occurred  to  her  to  doubt 
the  story  of  the  strange  woman,  and  Tom's  de 
parture  so  soon  afterwards,  seemed  to  thoroughly 
corroborate  it,  had  there  been  a  question  about 
it.  All  this  her  parents  had,  of  course,  urged  in 
their  argument  to  get  her  to  marry  John  Sterling. 
In  addition,  and  to  make  the  proof  more  conclu 
sive — had  there  been  a  doubt  or  room  for  a  doubt 
— Thomas  and  John  Sterling  had  nerer  failed 
to  ding  it  into  her  ears  that  Tom  Johnson  was 
now  living  with  his  wife.  They  always,  how 
ever,  failed  to  tell  her  where  he  was,  if  they  had 
pretended  to  know. 

******* 

A  traveller  passed  through  Burnet,  who  had 

met  Tom  in  his  new  home,  and  had  told  some 

one;  this  she  had  heard  and  had  kept  the  post 

office  in  her  mind,  yet  she  never  dared  address  a 


Tom  Johnson.  135 

letter  there.    Why  should  she — he  was  married, 
and  could  possibly  be  nothing  to  her. 

John  Sterling  continued  to  press  his  suit,  but 
she  did  not  want  to  marry  him,  and  had  repeated 
ly  told  him  so;  that  she  never  could  love  him, 
for  her  heart  was  dead.  But,  as  I  have  previ 
ously  stated,  she  was  only  human,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  her  mother  and  step-father,  John 
finally  won,  and  to  the  edification  of  town  gos 
sips,  their  engagement  was  soon  whispered 
around,  and  preparations  were  being  made  for 
a  big  wedding.  Nobody  seemed  surprised,  or,  at 
least,  claimed  not  to  be,  and  you  could  hear  from 
many  lips  the  "I  told-you-so,"  and  that  "Oh,  I 
knew  that  she  would  soon  forget  Tom  Johnson." 

Even  old  Frank,  who  dearly  loved  Tom,  talked 
to  his  wife  Sarah  about  it,  but  he  would  shake 
his  head  and  dubiously  say:  "Dat's  a  monst'us 
fine  lady,  is  Mis'  Katie,  but  I  dun  tole  you, 
Sarah,  she  o'ter  took  Mr.  Tom,  'deed  she  o't." 
*  *#.#### 

The  lion  in  his  cage  is  not  the  only  animal 
that  does  not  like  confinement,  and  longs  for 
freedom  and  recreation,  and  man  sometimes  be- 


136  Tom  Johnson. 

comes  as  restless  in  his  daily  humdrum  vocation 
in  life  as  the  great  king  of  beasts.  Sometimes 
they  long  for  a  change  without  cause — for  a  rest 
— and  if  resting,  then  for  work. 

Tom  Johnson  was  restless  and  had  been  so, 
for  that  matter,  for  two  years  or  more.  He  had 
been  working  hard,  and  now  wanted  to  get  out 
in  the  world.  A  notion  struck  him  that  he 
would  like  to  see  his  old  home  that  he  had  left 
seven  years  ago,  and  if  everything  suited  he 
might — well,  he  never  failed  to  nurse  his  early 
ambition.  Almost  simultaneous  with  the  notion 
he  began  to  make  preparations  for  the  journey, 
and  without  ceremony  or  notice  he  boarded  the 
train,  telling  none  where  h(e  was  going  to  or  when 
he  expected  to  return.  He  had  no  near  or  dear 
friends  that  he  cared  to  v/rite  to  meet  him;  ex 
pecting  no  demonstration  upon  his  arrival.  He 
had  business  at  Galveston,  and  he  would  go  that 
route,  and  when  he  left  there  he  noticed  that  he 
would  go  through  Austin,  and  the  very  thought 
of  passing  so  near  the  old  town  of  Burnet  made 
his  heart  leap.  He  knew  not  exactly  why,  but 
he  made  up  his  mind  to  run  up  to  Burnet  and 


Tom  Johnson.  137 

stop  from  one  train  to  the  other,  just  to  take  a 
look  at  the  old  place,  as  it  were.  He  ascertained 
that  he  would  get  there  at  six  o'clock  and  leave  at 
ten. 

He  was  not  travelling  incog,  but  he  flattered 
himself  that  no  one  would  know  him;  and  he 
would  spend  but  little  time  there,  just  long 
enough  to  see  how  the  old  haunts  looked,  and — 
perhaps  get  a  glimpse  of  her. 

When  he  alighted  from  the  train  it  was  nearly 
dusk  and  there  was  no  one  that  he  recognized. 
He  did  not  want  to  go  to  a  hotel  until  after  dark, 
and  he  sauntered  across  the  street  to  a  lunch 
counter,  an  enterprise  that  had  located  in  the  town 
since  his  departure.  As  he  cn.me  out  he  began 
walking  down  towards  the  square,  being  careful 
to  keep  the  back  streets.  He  had  gone  but  a 
few  blocks  when  he  heard  the  peals  of  an  old 
church  bell,  her  church,  too — how  familiar  it 
sounded  to  him.  He  made  up  his  mind  to  go  to 
this  church  and  take  a  seat  in  the  rear,  where  he 
could  see  her  if  she  came  to  church,  not  intend 
ing  that  she  should  see  nim.  He  thought  it  very 
early  for  a  congregation  to  be  gathering.  He 


138  Tom  Johnson. 

saw  many  faces  that  were  familiar,  yet  he  was 
cautious  not  to  make  himself  known.  All  the 
back  seats  were  occupied — strange  they  do  this 
at  church,  but  the  reverse  at  a  vaudeville — when 
he  arrived,  so  Tom  went  up  and  seated  himself 
within  a  few  seats  of  the  altar.  He  was  soon 
convinced  that  it  was  to  be  a  wedding,  noticing 
the  beautiful  flowers,  drapery,  etc.  He  wondered 
who  it  could  be — if  it  was  someone  that  he  knew. 
The  organist  began  a  wedding  march,  and  in  a 
moment  two  young  couples  marched  slowly 
down  the  aisle,  and  stationed  themselves  right 
and  left  in  front  of  the  altar;  next  came  the 
minister.  Then  Tom  knew  from  the  whisperings 
near  him,  and  from  the  slow,  steady  march  at  his 
back,  that  the  bride  and  groom  were  coming. 
His  morbid  curiosity  was  devouring  him — who 
on  earth  could  it  be?  "Look  how  pale  she  is," 
said  one  woman  to  her  neighbor.  "What  a  hand 
some  couple,"  said  another,  and  "I  wonder  if  she 
really  loves  him?"  etc.,  until  they  had  passed  by 
and — "My  God !"  escaped  Tom's  lips.  It  was 
Katie  Adams  and  John  Sterling.  As  they  made 
the  circle  to  face  the  altar,  Katie's  eyes  met 


Tom  Johnson.  139 

Tom's  as  he  sat  within  a  few  feet  staring  at  her, 
in  a  wild,  blank  gaze,  his  face  looking  as  if  it  was 
cut  out  of  white  marble.  She  gave  one  loud, 
piercing  scream,  and  fell  to  the  floor. 

Tom  saw  the  commotion ;  heard  a  dozen  ques 
tions  by  the  gossipers,  saw  the  crowd  gather  in 
excitement  about  the  bride  and  groom,  and  then — 
he  was  outside  walking  towards  the  depot. 

He  did  not  go  to  the  hotel ;  saw  but  few  who 
knew  him;  asked  no  questions  and  answered 
none,  and  when  he  boarded  the  ten  o'clock  train 
he  looked  like  a  man  who  had  grown  ten  years 
older  in  two  hours. 


140  Tom  Johnson. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

TOM  reached  the  place  of  his  birth  looking 
haggard  and  worn.  He  did  not  look  like  the 
smooth  faced  boy  that  had  left  there  seven  years 
ago  to  matriculate  in  the  great  Southern  law 
school.  No  one  knew  him — not  even  his  old 
school  mates  that  he  would  meet  on  the  streets 
would  recognize  him.  His  old  friend  Judge 
Cype  had  been  dead  for  more  than  a  year,  and 
he  saw  nothing  to  draw  him  near  the  spot  where 
he  first  saw  the  light,  and  he  had  been  there  a 
day  or  two  when  it  seemed  an  age.  He  strolled 
down  to  the  river  where  he  had  swam,  fished 
and  played  in  his  childhood,  and  the  waving 
branches,  as  they  would  sway  backwards  and  for 
wards,  blown  by  the  breezes  that  followed  the 
stream,  seemed  to  cry  out  in  pity  to  him;  the 
sycamore  and  the  gum  appeared  to  almost  reach 


Tom  Johnson.  141 

the  sky,  and  get  closer  and  closer  to  him 
until  he  almost  became  suffocated.  He  had  an 
impulse  to  run  away,  to  get  out  as  fast  as  he 
could,  and  in  his  almost  delirious  condition,  with 
out  thinking  he  actually  started  to  run  up  the 
bank,  and  the  tops  of  the  trees  seemed  to  be 
bending  down  as  if  they  were  trying  to  catch  him. 
Nowhere  did  he  go  but  a  desire  to  move  on  would 
take  possession  of  him.  In  his  sleep  he  would 
cry  out  as  if  someone  had  plunged  a  knife  into 
him,  and  then  he  would  get  up  and  walk  the  floor 
in  his  agony.  His  stay  here  was  more  like  a 
horrid  dream  than  a  pleasure. 

He  visited  his  old  home  place  some  miles  from 
town.  He  would  buy  it — that  is,  the  old  house 
built  by  his  grandfather,  when  Arkansas  was  a 
territory;  the  place  where  his  childhood  days 
were  spent  with  his  father  and  his  old  black 
mammy.  Perhaps  he  would  see  "mammy";  no, 
he  remembered  now  that  she  had  been  dead  for 
some  years,  but  he  would  go. 

When  he  reached  the  place  he  found — yes, 
there  it  was.  There  were  the  two  old  locust 
trees,  on  the  river  bank,  out  in  front  of  the  house, 


142  Tom  Johnson. 

but  the  bank  had  encroached  by  its  cavings, 
until  these  grand  old  trees  that  had  sheltered  sire 
and  grandsire,  would  soon  tumble  in.  Then  he 
looked  towards  the  house,  and  there  it  stood  as  it 
had  for  more  than  half  a  century.  An  old  fash 
ioned  two  story  building,  with  chimneys  at  the 
end — that  is,  at  one  end,  the  others  having  tum 
bled  to  the  ground.  Out  in  the  yard  were  still 
the  old  Bois  D'arc,  and  mulberry  trees,  whose 
shade  he  had  often  played  under  when  a  boy, 
and  yes,  there  was  the  old  sycamore  that  stood 
back  of  his  father's  office.  The  old  office  was 
now  used  to  store  plows  in.  He  could  not  see  the 
grand  old  orchard  that  stood  near  the  house ;  it 
was  gone,  and  in  its  stead  a-  cotton  patch.  The 
two  old  pear  trees  that  grew  at  the  south  end  of 
the  house,, and  whose  branches  reached  up  to  the 
windows  of  the  room  he  used  to  sleep-  in,  and 
where  the  mocking  bird  used  to  come  and  wake 
him  in  the  morning,  were  gone ;  part  of  the  old 
house  was  gone — it  had  all  gone  to  rack.  It 
made  him  sad — sick — to  look  at  it,  but  he  would 
go  inside.  A  woman,  the  wife  of  a  tenant,  and 
several  little  tow-headed  children  met  him  at  the 


Tom  Johnson.  143 

door.  When  he  went  into  his  mother's  room, 
where  he  was  born,  the  room  always  kept  and 
designated  by  old  "mammy"  as  "Mis'  Mary's 
room,"  he  took  off  his  hat,  for  it  appeared  that 
he  was  on  holy  ground.  But  he  only  saw  the 
furnishings  of  a  hovel ;  filth  everywhere ;  decay 
all  over  the  house ;  he  was  sick,  and  indeed  glad 
to  get  away. 

Oh,  how  lonely  he  was.  The  thought  never 
struck  him  to  call  upon  his  relatives.  But  let 
them  go;  he  did  not  care  to  see  them,  nor  to 
see  anyone;  he  did  not  want  to  stay  there;  he 
wanted  to  go,  but  where? 

As  soon  as  possible  he  left  for  his  Louisiana 
home — no,  he  would  not  call  it  home!  He  h'i 
no  home,  no  place  where  he  could  lay  down 
to  rest.  He  had  gone  to  the  spot  where 
his  father  and  mother  were  buried,  and 
standing  there,  viewing  thte  two  tomb 
stones  side  by  side,  thought  the  only  persons 
in  the  world  that  had  ever  cared  for  him,  hadkbeen 
taken  by  the  hand  of  God,  and  it  seemed  as  a 
punishment  to  him. 

What  had  he  done  to  be  cursed  ?  Oh,  God,  how 


144  Tom  Johnson 

he  prayed  for  a  mother,  for  a  father,  sister  or 
brother,  for  anyone  he  might  confide  in — pour 
out  his  grief  and  troubles  to — even  the  affections 
of  anyone  would  have  been  consoling  indeed.  To 
have  had  someone  to  confide  in  would  have 
soothed  his  wounded  feelings.  The  woman  he 
loved  had  scorned  him  because  he  was  poor,  and 
had-been  raised  a  pauper — was  that  it;  what  else 
could  it  be?  Then  he  thought:  was  the  woman 
with  such  ideas  worthy  the  love  of  a  true-  man  ? 
But  he  would  dwell  upon  this  thought  but  a 
minute,  for  he  knew  that  he  loved  her.  He 
thought  that  the  whole  world  had  turned  against 
him,  and  considered  himself  an  outcast  and  i 
imposition  upon  society.  Society,  bah !  What  is 
society  from  the  world's  standpoint? 

What  would  he  do?  He  did  not  know  and  he 
did  not  care.  By  a  matter  of  chance,  as  well  as 
choice,  did  he  return  to  his  new  home,  and  re 
sume  his  work  with  renewed  energy.  He  would 
work;  he  would  succeed;  he  would  make  for 
himself  a  name,  and  attain  a  position  in  life  that 
no  one  need  be  ashamed  of.  God  had  blessed 
him  with  an  intellect  and  a  talent  that  was  recog- 


Tom  Johnson.  145 

nized  by  his  fellow-man,  who  trusted  him  with 
implicit  confidence  in  his  new  home ;  hence,  he 
would  from  now  on  look  after  his  own  welfare. 
Himself — who  else  was  there  for  him  to  work 
for?  What  per  cent,  of  the  successful  business 
men  of  to-day  do  not  work  solely  for  self? 
Number  one  first,  last,  and  all  the  time,  is  the 
life  motto  of  ninety-five  per  cent,  of  the  suc 
cessful  men  of  the  age. 

Tom  tried  to  forget  that  he  ever  lived  in  Bur- 
net,  that  he  ever  knew  of  such  a  place ;  but  while 
trying  to  forget,  the  more  vivid  everything  ap 
peared  to  him.  His  whole  Burnet  life  would  con 
stantly  appear  in  panoramic  view  before  his  eyes. 
Could  he  but  forget  1  e  past !  Ah,  what 
fortunes  would  be  spent  if  money  could 
but  blot  out  the  past !  How  many  of  us  that  have* 
nothing  to  regret — nothing  that  we  would  like 
to  forget? 

Tom  devoted  himself  to  business^ solely,  and 
recreation  and  amusement  very  little.  Hie 
shunned  society,  yet  he  was  the  invited  guest  of 
many  of  the  social  functions  of  the  town.  Many 
of  the  elder  dames  with  marriageable  daughters 


146  Tom  Johnson. 

cast;their  eyes  on  the  young  lawyer,  as  they  con- 
sideredliimia  fairly  "good  catch,"  but  do  what  he 
would,  there  was  but  one  woman  for  him.  His 
affections«and  his  sole  attention  were  given  to  his 
mistress,  whichfthe  writers  call  a  jealous*one — the 
law. 


Tom  Johnson.  147 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  reader,  perhaps,  wonders  what  became  of 
Katie  Adams ;  if  the  marriage  ceremony  was  re 
sumed,  and  she  was  made  Mrs.  John  Sterling? 

No,  after  she  had  regained  consciousness  her 
condition  was  so  alarming  that  she  was  at  once 
removed  'to  her  home,  where  she  kept  her  room 
for  some  time. 

This  incident  was  not  only  astounding  to  those 
present  at  the  time,  but  was  the  talk  of  the  coun 
try  for  some  time  to  come. 

It  was  newspaper  talk  and  general  gossip  that 
Katie  had  thought  Tom  dead,  and  that  it  was  his 
ghost  that  appeared  when  the  ceremony  was 
about  to  be  performed  that  would  make  her  an 
other  man's  wife. 

Thomas  and  John  Sterling  were  again 
thwarted,  and  John,  who  had,  of  course,  found 
out  what  he  thought  to  be  the  cause  of  it  all,  bit- 


148  Tom  Johnson. 

terly  cursed  his  fate,  likewise  the  person  of  one 
Tom  Johnson. 

After  her  recovery  Katie  r  *  to  marry  right 
away;  she  thought  John  Sterling  to  be  more  re 
pulsive  than  ever,  and  could  hardly  bear  to  be  in 
his  company,  notwithstanding  the  strong  and 
earnest  entreaties  of  her  mother  and  father. 

"I  cannot  marry  him,  mother — I  do  not  love 
him — I  hate  him !"  she  cried. 

"Oh,  my  child,  why  do  you  talk  so?  You  will 
learn  to  love  him." 

"No,  mother,  I  have  already  learned  to  love 
once,  and  want  no  more  lessons.  I  love  Tom 
Johnson !"  she  thoughtlessly  said. 

"My  God !"  cried  Mrs.  Thomas,  "that  wretch, 
and  he  married  to  another." 

"I  do  not  believe  it — I  mean,  mother,  that  some 
times  there  is  something  that  tells  me  he  is  not 
married." 

Katie  Adams  knew  not  what  prompted  her  to 
say  this,  for  never  for  a  moment  had  she  doubted 
his  being  married.  She  spoke  in  a  moment  of 
desperation  or  excitement.  The  conversation 
ended  and  she  w  A  ':  to  her  room  to  think. 


Tom  Johnson.  149 

"What  shall  I  do,"  she  said,  and  going  to  a 
book-case  she  picked  up  a  small  volume  of  poems, 
on  the  fly-leaf  of  which  was  written  the  name: 
Leeston,  La.  She  looked  it  over  for  some  min 
utes  as  if  in  deep  thought,  and  finally  seating  her 
self  at  a  desk,  wrote  the  following  letter : 

"To  the  Postmaster,  Leeston,  La. 

"Mv  DEAR  SIR:— 

"Can  you  give  me  any  information  of  one 
Thomas  B.  Johnson,  an  attorney  in  your  town? 
Whether  he  is  married,  and  if  so,  when  and  to 
whom,  and  if  he  is  living  with  his  wife?  This  is 
confidential,  and  I  enclose  a  fee,  so  if  you  are  un 
able  to  give  the  desired  information  please  turn 
this  letter  over  to  some  reliable  attorney. 
"Respectfully, 

"FRANK  HARRIS. 

"Burnet,  Tex.,  4,  7,  18— ." 

She  backed  the  letter,  and  after  having  done 
so  could  not  have  told  why  she  had  written  it. 
That  afternoon  she  drove  over  to  the  post  office, 
where  she  mailed  the  letter,  and  then  on  her  way 
back  called  old  Frank  out  to  his  gate,  and  said : 

"Frank,  I  want  to  ask  you  to  do  me  a  favor — 
will  you  do  it  ?" 


150  Tom  Johnson. 

"Do  hit!  W'y,  Mis'  Katie,  ef  I  was  t'  dise'bey 
you,  de  starhs  'ud  fall  down  on  dis  ol'  niggah  an' 
bu'n  im  up.  Fdeed  dey  'ud.  Do  you  a  favor 
— w'y  jes'  name  it.  Mus'  I  go  bus'  mah  ol'  head 
op'n  gin  dat  tree — wellum,  heah  goes.  Ef  you 
say  go  jump  in  de  ribber,  I'm  gwine  right  now, 
an " 

"Oh,  no,  Frank,  listen :  A  letter  may  come  to 
you  in  a  few  days,  and  I  want  you  to  bring  it 
straight  to  me  without  opening  it — do  you  hear? 
And  do  not  say  one  word  to  anyone  about  it." 

"You'se  c'manded,  an'  w'en  you  do,  dat  set 
tles  it  wid  dis  niggah.  I  will,  Mis'  Katie;  I'll 
jes'  fly  to  you." 

"Well,  remember  now,  not  a  word,"  said  the 
girl  as  she  slipped  a  five  dollar  gold  piece  into  the 
darky's  hand,  and  then  she  drove  off  leaving  him 
scraping  and  bowing,  in  imitation  of  a  Chester 
field. 

John  Sterling  had  almost  despaired  of  winning 
Katie,  but  Thomas  continued  to  encourage  him. 
John  knew  that  she  disliked  him,  that  she 
loved  Tom  Johnson,  but  he  would  chuckle  with 
some  degree  of  satisfaction  when  he  would  think 


Tom  Johnson.  151 

of  their  separation,  and  of  what  brought  it  about. 
In  his  mind  the  gulf  was  too  wide  to  ever  be 
bridged  between  him  and  Katie. 

About  a  week  after  Katie  had  mailed  her  letter 
to  the  Louisiana  postmaster,  Frank  brought  a 
letter  addressed  to  himself.  She  was  so  eager  to 
know  its  contents  that  she  snatched  the  letter 
from  his  hands  and  ran  upstairs,  where  she 
read: 

"Mr.  Frank  Harris,  Burnet,  Texas. 

"DEAR  SIR: — 

"Your  favor  making  inquiry  of  Thomas  B. 
Johnson,  Esq.,  of  this  place,  was  handed  me  by 
our  postmaster.  Replying  will  say  that  Mr.  John 
son  has  lived  here  for  three  years — having  officed 
in  the  same  building  as  myself  during  the  entire 
time,  as  well  as  to  board  at  the  same  hotel  that  I 
do.  Mr.  Johnson  is  unmarried — was  never  mar 
ried.  He  is  one  of  the  leading  attorneys  for  this 
section  of  the  state,  and  is  perfectly  reliable  in 
every  way.  Yours  truly, 

"SAM  R.  REED. 

"Leeston,  La.,  May  I4th,  18 — ." 

The  letter  dropped  from  her  hands  to  the  floor, 
and  there  she  sat  for  some  time  in  a  blank  stare, 


152  Tom  Johnson. 

as  if  trying  to  look  at  some  invisible  object. 
What  passed  through  her  brain  I  am  not  pre 
pared  to  say,  but  it  appeared  that  she  was  trying 
to  unravel  some  mooted  question  that  had  com 
pletely  taken  possession  of  her  mind.  She  picked 
up  the  letter,  read  and  re-read  it,  and  finally  plac 
ing  it  in  a  little  book  walked  downstairs. 

"The  letter  says  that  he  is  a  single  man,  but 
perhaps  he  has  kept  his  wife  in  the  dark  as  he  did 
htere?"  Thus  soliloquized  the  girl.  "Oh,  if  I 
could  only  make  up  my  mind — I  do  not  believe — 
I  do  not  know  what  to  believe." 

The  more  she  thought  of  the  matter  the  more 
it  worried  her,  until  finally,  a  few  days  after  re 
ceiving  the  letter,  she  sent  a  note  to  Ralph  Ster 
ling  asking  him  to  call  at  the  house. 

"What  on  earth  can  she  want  with  me," 
thought  Ralph,  but  when  the  time  came  he  was 
there. 

He  could  not  help  but  note  the  change  in 
Katie.  She  did  not  look  like  the  little  girl  he  had 
played  with.  She  appeared  to  be  sad  and  melan 
choly,  yet  he  thought  her  to  be  the  most  beauti 
ful  woman  he  had  ever  seen. 


Tom  Johnson.  153 

"Ralph,"  she  said,  when  they  had  been  seated 
for  some  time,  "I  sent  for  you  to  have  a  talk,  and 
I  want  you  to  be  frank  with  me,  and  tell  me  the 
whole  truth,  and  promise  to  say  nothing  of  this 
conversation." 

He  readily  assented,  of  course,  but  wondering 
all  the  time  what  was  the  object  of  the  interview. 

"I  want  to  talk  to  you  about  Tom  Johnson " 

"Tom  Johnson !"    he  exclaimed. 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  "I  want  you  to  tell  me 
all  you  know  of  him." 

"I  know  but  little  of  him  now;  We  has  never 
written  me  a  line  since  he  left  here,  and  I  have 
but  recently  learned  where  he  is." 

"I  mean  of  what  you  knew  of  him  up  to  the 
time  that  he  came  here." 

"Well,  Tom  and  I  met  at  the  University  of  Vir 
ginia,  and  were  class-mates,  and  yes,  room-mates, 
too,  for  two  years.  We  were  the  very  best  of 
friends  and  were  never  separated  for  twenty-four 
hours  during  our  college  life." 

"But  what  of  him  before  he  came  to  college?" 
she  asked. 

"I  can  tell  you  nothing  except  that  he  was  a 


154  Tom  Johnson. 

poor  boy  without  money  or  influence.  He  had 
worked  his  way  through  his  state  university. 
There  were  two  boys  in  college  that  were  in  the 
University  of  Arkansas  with  him,  and  they  al 
ways  spoke  of  him  in  the  highest  terms.  They 
loved  Tom,  as  did  all  of  us,  and  were  continually 
telling  of  his  deeds  'back  home/  as  they  would 
call  it." 

"Ralph,  was  he — was  Tom  Johnson  ever  mar 
ried?" 

"Married!  Who?  Tom  Johnson  married? 
Why,  Katie,  if  a  woman  was  to  look  at  him  he 
would  almost  break  his  neck  in  trying  to  get 
away.  At  college  we  always  laughed  at  him  for 
being  so  bashful.  If  he  was  ever  married  it  was 
when  he  wore  kilt-skirts  or  knee-pants.  You  are 
the  only  girl  that  he  ever  talked  to  almost, 
let  alone  paying  attentions  to."  And  Ralph 
laughed  heartily. 

"But,  Ralph,  I  have  been  told  that  he  was  mar 
ried  before  he  came  here,  and  that  he  was  a — 
forger,  and  was,  when  here,  living  under  an  as 
sumed  name." 

"It's  a  lie!"  shouted  Ralph.     "An  infamous 


Tom  Johnson.  155 

lie;  and  a  slander  upon  the  name  of  one  of 
God's  noblemen.  No  more  honorable  or  higher 
minded  man  ever  lived  than  Tom  Johnson.  Katie, 
tell  me  who  has  blasphemed  his  name  and  brought 
these  infamous  charges  against  him?  I  swear 
he  is  as  innocent  of  such  a  charge  as  you  are — 
as  innocent  as  the  youngest  babe  in  the  town." 

"But,  Ralph,  there  was  a  woman  here  that 
claimed  that  he  was  her  husband,  and  the  father 
of  her  child." 

"She  lied — she  was  an  impostor  and  should 
be  punished  for  slandering  a  good  man.  I  will 
write  Tom  and  have  this  matter  cleared  up." 

"But  I  have  seen  this  woman,  and  she  told  me 
her  story  in  this  very  room." 

Ralph's  brows  began  to  knit  and  for  some 
time  he  sat  as  if  trying  to  solve  a  problem. 

"Katie,"  he  said,  "there  Is  something  wrong. 
When  did  all  this  happen?" 

"A  few  weeks  before  he  left  Burnet/'  she  re 
plied. 

Ralph  was  silent  for  some  moments,  and  then 
asked : 

"And  was  this  why  you  and  he  separated?" 


156  Tom  Johnson. 

"Yes." 

"What  did  he  say  about  it?" 

"Ralph,  I  never — that  is,  the  woman — made 

me  promise  to  say  nothing  to  him  about  it,  and 
j >» 

"You  never  told  him — never  gave  him  a 
chance  to  explain?  Katie,  does  he  know  why 
you  refused  to  see  him?  What  did  you  tell 
him?" 

"I  wrote  him  that  I  had  been  informed  of  his 
past  and  knew  all,  and  that  I  would  never  see 
him  again,"  said  the  girl,  trembling  as  if  she  had 
an  ague. 

"Katie,  you  did  a  great  wrong.  There  is 
some  damnable  plot  behind  all  this,  and  you 
have  been  the  dupe,  while  poor  Tom  has  been 
the  victim." 

Here  she  gave  way  to  the  instincts  of  the 
woman  and  began  to  cry. 

"I  fear  so,  Ralph.  Oh,  Ralph,  why  did  I  then 
not  ask  you  about  this?  I  have  never  mentioned 
it  to  anyone — but,  Ralph,  John  told  me  that  Tom 
had  gone  back  to  his  wife ;  that  he  had  a  friend 
who  had  seen  them." 


Tom  Johnson.  157 

"John — John  Sterling — you  say  he  told  you 
this  ?"  Ralph  had  arisen  from  his  seat  and  stood 
looking  at  the  girl.  "My  God,  can  this  be  true 
— can  it  be  possible  ?"  This  he  said  in  almost  an 
inaudible  tone,  drooping  his  head. 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "and  I  did  not  doubt  it  until 
recently,  and  then  it  began  to  dawn  upon  me  that 
something  might  be  wrong,  and  I  wrote  this  let 
ter  to  the  postmaster  where  Tom  lives,  and  re 
ceived  this  reply."  Here  she  handed  Ralph  the 
letter  she  had  gotten  from  Lawyer  Reed,  of  Lees- 
ton,  Louisiana. 

Ralph  read  the  letter,  handed  it  back  to  her, 
and  arose  to  take  his  leave. 

"Katie,  say  nothing  of  this  affair,  for  I  am 
going  to  try  to  fathom  it  out." 

She  promised  to  do  as  requested,  and  Ralph 
continued : 

"One  question,  Katie:  Do  you  love  Tom 
Johnson  yet?" 

"Yes,"  she  said,  "I  do  love  him,  and  now  that 
I  believe  that  I  have  wronged  him,  I  will  always 
love  him." 

"I  thought  as  much,"  said  Ralph,  and  bidding 


158  Tom  Johnson. 

her  good-day,  he  passed  out,  and  when  on  the 
street  muttered  to  himself:  "Could  it  be  pos 
sible  that  John,  my  brother,  would  enter  into  so 
black  a  scheme,  so  foul  and  damnable  a  plot? 
God  forbid!" 


Tom  Johnson.  159 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

RALPH  wrote  Tom  a  long,  friendly  letter,  and 
when  the  latter  received  it  he  wept  like  a  child. 

''How  could  I  ever  have  allowed  my  own  self 
ishness  to  cause  me  to  forget  the  best  friend  that  I 
ever  had — more  than  a  brother  has  Ralph  Ster 
ling  been  to  me,"  said  Tom. 

Ralph's  letter  seemed  to  put  new  life  into 
Tom,  although  nothing  had  been  said  of  Katie — 
not  a  word. 

Tom  answered  the  letter  and  very  dexterously 
avoided  mentioning  her  name,  although  he  was 
dying  to  know  something  of  her.  He  had  made 
tip  his  mind  that  she  long  since  became  Mrs. 
Sterling,  though  he  would  not  have  asked  Ralph 
anything  about  it  for  the  world. 

******* 

A  strange  woman  had  made  her  appearance  in 
Burnet  on  several  occasions,  and  had  always 


160  Tom  Johnson. 

been  in  conversation  with  John  Sterling,  but  not 
for  the  past  two  months. 

"I  told  her  that  I  would  not  give  her  another 
cent,"  said  John,  talking  to  his  friend,  Mr. 
Thomas,  "and  she  went  away  threatening  to 
tell  Katie  the  whole  affair,  but  I  knew  that  she 
would  not  do  it." 

"The  next  time  she  comes,  throw  her  out  of 
the  house,"  said  Thomas.  "But,  no,  we  had  best 
get  rid  of  her  in  another  way.  Threaten  to  have 
her  arrested  for  vagrancy  or  something.  The 
way  to  do  these  creatures  when  they  get  as  low 
as  she  has  fallen  is  to  threaten  them  with  the 
law;  that  is  the  only  thing  on  earth  that  they 
fear;  they  have  had  a  taste  of  that  and  know 
what  it  means." 

But  she  did  come  to  Burnet  again,  and  this 
time  she  did  not  go  to  the  bank. 

One  morning,  about  three  years  after  Tom's 
departure  from  Burnet,  a  poorly  clad,  haggard 
looking  woman  made  her  appearance  at  the 
Thomas  mansion  and  called  for  Miss  Katie,  who, 
of  course,  invited  her  in. 

"What!    You  here'/'  criec}  Katie,  looking  at 


Tom  Johnson.  161 

the  trembling  wretch  as  if  she  could  devour  her 
— with  her  eyes. 

"Yes,  Miss  Adams,"  she  said,  "I  am  here,  and 
I  came  to  undo  the  wrong  that  I  did  three  years 
ago.  I  have  prayed  to  God  to  forgive  me  for  it, 
and  now  I  come  to  ask  you  to  do  the  same  thing 
— forgive  me  for  being  the  impostor  and  crim 
inal  that  I  was." 

"Then — then  you  are  not  Tom  Johnson's 
wife?"  cried  the  excited  girl. 

"No,"  she  said,  "I  have  never  spoken  to  the 
man  in  my  life." 

"How  could  you  have  acted  and  made  the 
story  you  told  me,  then?"  asked  Katie. 

"I  was  hired  *~>  do  so,  and  was  then  vile 
enough  and  low  enough  to  stoop  to  any  crime  for 
money,"  replied  the  wretched  woman. 

"Hired?  I  do  not  understand — who  could 
have  hired  you  ?" 

"John  Sterling,"  replied  the  woman.  "He 
came  to  me  in  Austin  and  told  me  that  you  were 
to  marry  this  Mr.  Johnson ;  that  he  wanted  you 
himself,  but  that  you  loved  Tom  Johnson,  and 
that  he  wanted  to  turn  you  against  him ;  that  if  I 


162  Tom  Johnson. 

would  go  to  you  and  tell  you  the  story  that  he 
taught  me  he  would  give  me  five  hundred  dol 
lars  down  and  five  hundred  more  when  he  and 
you  were  married.  I  have  sunk  very  low,  Miss 
Adams — so  low  that  I  cannot  now  earn  a  living ; 
my  charms  are  gone,  and  men  that  used  to  bow 
at  my  feet  and  come  at  my  beck  and  call,  lav 
ish  upon  me  jewels  and  money,  will  now  pass  me 
by  unnoticed.  They  would  not  stoop  to  lift  me 
from  the  gutter ;  but  I  still  have  a  soul,  and  what 
few  days  I  have  to  live,  even  though  burdened 
with  disease,  I  do  not  want  spent  in  commit 
ting  crime  nor  harboring  in  my  heart  those  that 
I  have  already  committed." 

"I  hope  not,"  said  Katie,  "but  if  you  are  honest 
I  want  your  story  to  be  witnessed." 

Katie  sent  for  Ralph,  who,  being  a  notary, 
was  requested  to  take  down  the  woman's  state 
ment  in  the  form  of  an  affidavit. 

When  this  woman  told  her  story  in  detail,  and 
mentioned  the  name  of  John  Sterling  as  the  man 
who  had  hired  her  to  do  the  work,  Ralph'  dropped 
his  pen  and  cried:  "Great  God,  is  this  the 
truth?" 


Tom  Johnson.  163 

Katie  did  not  seem  to  be  the  least  bit  excited, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  was  perfectly  calm  all  the 
way  through,  until  the  woman  related  the  fact 
that  Mr.  Thomas  was  present  in  the  bank  and 
helped  to  plan  the  whole  affair,  and  agreeing  to 
make  the  way  clear  for  the  woman  on  her  first 
visit  by  having  Mrs.  Thomas  come  to  town 
shopping.  When  this  was  told  the  girl  turned 
as  white  as  marble  and  bit  her  lips  until  the 
blood  almost  oozed  out,  but  said  not  a  word. 

Ralph  cautioned  Katie  to  say  nothing  of  this 
interview  with  the  woman,  and  left.  Katie 
showed  the  woman  out,  and  placing  a  roll  of 
bills  in  her  hand,  which  at  first  was  refused,  but 
finally  accepted,  she  went — we  know  not 
where,  but  from  the  sight  of  Katie  Adams,  and 
we  hope  forever. 


164  Tom  Johnson. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

RALPH  was  surprised  to  find  in  his  morning 
mail,  a  few  days  after  the  woman  episode,  a  let 
ter  from  Tom,  dated  at  Austin,  and  informing 
him  that  he  would  be  there  a  few  days  on  busi 
ness,  asking  Ralph  if  he  would  not  run  down  to 
see  him ;  that  he  would  not  come  to  Burnet  at  all. 

Ralph  had  said  nothing  to  anyone — his  father 
nor  John — of  what  he  knew  of  John's  infamy. 
He  thought  seriously  about  Tom's  letter.  He 
could  take  the  evening  train  and  be  with  Tom 
by  six  o'clock,  and  then  he  would  tell  him  all. 
He  thought  how  near  this  piece  of  work  came 
to  ruining  at  least  one  life,  but  now  that  he 
would  tell  Tom  all  about  how  it  happened,  and 
then — well,  John  Sterling  was  his  brother,  but 
he  thanked  God  from  the  bottom  of  his  heart 
that  Katie  had  not  married  him.  Would  he  tell 


Tom  Johnson.  165 

Tom  ?  No,  he  was  really  not  the  one  to  tell  him, 
but  Katie  should  do  so ;  it  was  her  duty  to  do  it ; 
but  how  could  she  ?  Tom  had  said  that  he  would 
not  come  to  Burnet,  and  who  could  blame  him? 
"What  will  I  do?"  Ralph  asked  himself,  and,  as 
if  Ms  brain  had  prompted  an  immediate  answer, 
he  put  on  his  hat  and  went  at  once  to  the 
Thomas  house  and  called  for  Katie. 

"Katie,  I  am  going  to  Austin  this  afternoon, 
and  I  want  you  to  go  with  me." 

"Go  with  you?  Why,  what  on  earth  calls  you 
to  Austin  so  suddenly,  Ralph,  and  especially  of 
such  vital  importance  that  I  should  accompany 
you?" 

"Because,"  he  said,  "Tom  is  there." 

"Tom  is  there — Tom  in  Austin?" 

"Yes,"  he  replied. 

"No,  I — I  had  better  not  go,"  she  slowly  re 
plied. 

"I  think  that  you  should  go ;  he  is  not  coming 
here,  and  you  have  wronged  him  deeply.  Katie, 
I  think  it  your  duty  to  go  to  him  and  tell  him 
all.  It  is  true  that  the  wooing  generally  comes 
from  the  other  side,  but  if  you  will  only  think 


166  Tom  Johnson. 

about  how  Tom  has  been  treated,  and  how  he 
must  have  suffered,  I  think  that  you  will  agree 
with  me." 

"I  will  go,"  she  said. 

So  at  six  o'clock  that  afternoon  Ralph  and 
Katie  alighted  from  the  train  at  Austin  and  were 
driven  to  the  Driskell  Hotel. 

Ralph  at  once  hunted  Tom  up,  and  of  course 
the  greeting  between  old  friends  was  affection 
ate,  indeed.  Tom  began  to  tell  Ralph  what  a 
selfish  wretch  he  had  been  for  not  keeping  him 
posted  as  to  his  whereabouts,  for  not  writing 
him  at  all.  He  begged  Ralph's  forgiveness  a 
hundred  times,  and  each  time  Ralph  forgave 
him  a  hundred  times. 

"But,"  said  Ralph,  "we  are  indeed  selfish,  for 
there  is  another  who  wants  to  see  you,  and  is  in 
the  parlor  waiting  now." 

"Who?"  asked  Tom. 

"Oh,  an  old  Burnet  friend." 

"I  do  not  want  to  see  any  Burnet  friends, 
Ralph,  but  you." 

"Oh,  yes,  you  do,"  Ralph  replied,  and  by  this 
time  they  were  nearly  even  with  the  parlor  door. 


Tom  Johnson.  167 

"You  go  on  in  and  I  will  run  down  and  speak  to 
a  gentleman,  for  I  require  to  be  braced  up  with 
something  else  besides  the  joy  of  meeting  an  old 
friend." 

"Who  can  it  be?"  muttered  Tom,  and  gently 
opened  the  door. 

When  Tom  saw  Katie  Adams  advance  to  meet 
him  his  knees  began  to  tremble  and  he  almost 
dropped  to  the  floor;  his  blood  seemed  to  dart 
through  his  veins  like  streaks  of  lightning,  and 
his  heart  could  hear  and  feel  it  throbbing  in  his 
throat. 

Without  a  word,  she  ran  to  him,  threw  her 
arms  about  his  neck,  crying: 

"Oh,  Tom,  can  you  ever  forgive  me?" 

Tom  was  puzzled.  He  did  not  for  some  mo 
ments  say  a  word,  but  would  embrace  her,  hold 
her  out  at  arms'  length  and  look  at  her  as  if  he 
was  not  sure  that  he  was  dreaming — to  see 
whether  it  was  the  real  Katie — his  Katie,  that 
he  had  so  long  worshipped,  and  for  whom  he 
had  suffered  a  thousand  deaths. 

"Yes,  Katie,  if  you  will  tell  me  all — what  I 
shall  forgive  you  for?" 


168  Tom  Johnson. 

Then  she  related  all — about  the  woman  com 
ing  to  her  first  and  last,  and  how  she  came  so 
nearly  marrying  John  Sterling,  and  why.  She 
finally  gave  Tom  the  sworn  statement  the  woman 
had  made.  While  reading  it  his  face  was  al 
ternately  black  with  rage  and  bright  with  smiles. 
Black  with  rage  when  reading  the  infamy  of  his 
rival,  but  then  he  would  think  of  his  good  friend 
Ralph  and  his  sweetheart  by  his  side,  and  re 
venge  passed  from  his  breast — that  is,  that  re 
venge  that  calls  for  personal  violence,  and  then 
he  would  draw  Katie  to  his  breast  and  kiss  her 
a  few  times  more  than  necessary,  trying,  it 
seemed,  to  make  up  for  three  years'  lost  time  in 
one  short  evening. 

Ralph  and  Ella  Arnold  came  in,  Ralph  crying 
out: 

"Here,  you  folks  must  be  deaf.  We've  been 
a-hemming  and  a-hawing  and  clearing  our 
throats  for  the  past  five  minutes,  but  you  have 
been  too  interested  to  get  out  of  the  way 
of  a  tornado.  We  didn't  want  to  break 
in  upon  your  tete-a-tete,  but  we  had  to  come 
in  some  time.  I  don't  know  how  you  all 


Tom  Johnson.  169 

feel,  but  I  am,  to  use  a  vernacular  famil 
iar  on  the  plains,  as  hungry  as  a  wolf,  and 
am  more  than  anxious  to  use  what  little  French 
I  know  reading  the  bill-of-fare  down  in  the  din 
ing-room." 

That  evening  these  four  young  people  saw 
Tom  Keene  in  "Othello"  from  a  box  in  the  opera 
house,  and  yet  there  was  no  tragedy  in  their 
hearts. 

The  next  day  Ralph  and  Katie  returned  to 
Burnet  and  Tom  to  his  home  at  Leeston. 

Tom  came  back  to  Austin  a  few  weeks  later, 
and  while  there,  in  the  private  parlors  of  that 
same  hotel  there  was  a  quiet  double  wedding, 
the  contracting  parties  being  Tom  Johnson  and 
Katie  Adams,  Ralph  Sterling  and  Ella  Arnold. 

The  marriage  of  the  last  couple  was  a  sur 
prise  even  to  Tom  and  Katie,  and  Ralph  was 
called  upon  to  explain. 

"You  see,"  said  Ralph,  "I  tried  to  get  her 
back  as  a  stenographer,  and  couldn't;  but  in 
reality  I  didn't  want  her  as  a  stenographer,  but 
as  my  wife.  Oh,  yes,  of  course,  I  have  been  in 
love  with  her  all  the  time,  but  I  just  didn't  ex- 


170  Tom  Johnson. 

actly  understand  it,  and  while  she  loved  me  just 
as  much  as  she  could,  she  never  even  hinted  it 
until  I  came  out  flat-footed,  so  to  speak,  and 
asked  her  to  marry  me. 

"Say,  Tom,  Ella  insists  that  I  should  have  a 
young  man  for  my  office  help  now.  What  do 
you  think  about  it  ?" 

"Well,  Ralph,  knowing  you  as  I  do,  I  think 
that  it  would  be  better,"  Tom  laughingly  said. 

"Well,  I  guess  I  will  let  her  have  her  way,  and 
no  more  girls  in  the  office." 

******* 

Five  years  is  a  very  long  time  to  some  people, 
but  they  were  not  very  long  to  Tom  Johnson  and 
his  lovely  wife,  for  they  were  years  of  happiness 
— years  of  joy. 

Old  Burnet  is  plodding  along  as  ever,  for 
some  of  the  best  people  on  earth  are  there. 
Colonel  Sterling,  his  good  wife,  and  Mrs. 
Thomas  have  passed  away.  John  Sterling  and 
Thomas  are  still  planning,  their  only  object 
being  the  almighty  dollar. 

Down  on  the  coast  in  Louisiana  live  two  very 
happy  little  families,  one  of  which  had  just  re- 


Tom  Johnson.  171 

turned  from  the  nation's  capitol,  where  its 
liege  lord  has  been  to  represent  his  district  in 
Congress — Tom  Johnson. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Johnson  and  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ralph  Sterling  were  seated  out  under  the 
beautiful  lawn  trees  of  the  home  of  the  Johnsons, 
the  Sterlings  living  in  the  next  block.  Tom 
said: 

"No,  Ralph,  I  want  no  more  politics.  I  want 
to  live  at  home  now,  for  I  have  a  home  as  the 
word  implies.  I  will  not  receive  a  re-election, 
but  from  now  on  I  will  try  to  relieve  you  of 
some  of  the  work  of  the  law  firm  of  Johnson  & 
Sterling." 

"Come  heah,  you  w'ite  rask'l,"  said  an  Afri 
can  voice  down  in  the  yard. 

"What  is  the  matter,  Frank?"  asked  Tom. 

"W'y,  dis  heah  lit'l  ol'  Tom  Johnson  all  time 
pesterin'  Mr.  Ralph's  lit'l  gal.  Yes,  suh,  all 
time  th'owin'  clods  at  'er." 

THE  END. 


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